Accepting the Consequences
by thinktink2
Summary: A relationship between them can't be expected to be easy, not with their complicated history. Sequel to my fic "Coming to Terms."
1. Chapter 1

AN: Without further ado, Part One of my continuation of the Nadiland saga started in "Coming to Terms." Estimate this fic will be approximately 15 chapters, as I am currently stuck on chapter 11. The (the writer's) block associated with that has spawned various other fics related to this sphere, mostly of the fluff variety, probably because this one won't be quite as light-hearted as those, and you can check them out as well.

Leave some feedback though first.

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"Nick? Have you seen my briefcase?" Adalind called out from the bedroom where she was trying to decide which dress to wear. She settled on a ¾ sleeve black shift and slipped into it. It was her first day back to work after a long, multi-year hiatus. She heard Nick mutter something, probably a remark about how she was driving him crazy with all the preparation to get ready, before he replied.

"What does it look like?"

"A briefcase," she replied. And she definitely heard him mutter something that time.

"I'll look," he offered with a sigh, and she heard the dining room chair slide back from the table where he was feeding their son breakfast.

Their son. That phrase never got easier to comprehend no matter how many times you said it. "Thank you," she called, but he ignored her. She shrugged and checked her reflection in the mirror, smoothing the wrinkles out of her dress, checking her look from side to side, before slipping some jewelry over her head, before scrapping it and deciding on a Hermes scarf.

"Is this it?" Nick said, holding out the object in question as he came into the room. He was already dressed for work, black jeans, worn work boots, button up shirt that she had picked up from the dry-cleaners last week, hair still slightly damp from his shower, gun and badge already clipped to his belt.

"Yes," she sighed happily. "Thank you. Where did you find it?"

"Study." He turned to head back into the living area when she stopped him again.

"Can you-?" She began, turning her back to him and indicating the dress that still needed to be zipped. He looked at her for a moment before nodding and stepping forward to zip her up. She wondered what was up with him. He was hard to read sometimes, pensive and tense—his Grimm face—as she thought of it, and other times he was sarcastic, but affectionate, understanding and caring, but the last week he had been more Grimm-like she decided. He had been supportive, at least on the outside, of her going back to work, but she thought he might have some misgivings about it.

Well, so did she, she thought, but she wasn't going to mention it. She needed her confidence today of all days; to be in the zone. Not the fretful musings of a mother leaving her child in someone else's care for the first time after a year of looking after him day in and day out; or of a mother that had already had one child taken away from her when she had not been careful enough to prevent it; or of a suppressed Hexenbiest about to return to a very dangerous world for her, doubly so since said suppressed Hexenbiest birthed a Grimm's child, and was currently living quite cozily with him.

And _that_ never got easier to comprehend no matter how many times she said it to herself, either.

"Thank you," she said, swiveling around to face him and place a kiss on his mouth, and he managed a brief smile for the effort.

"What do you think? How do I look?"

He glanced over her, and Adalind knew before he opened his mouth that she was going to be disappointed with his answer.

"Fine. Good," he added, as if realizing the former might not be enough.

"Good," she repeated.

Nick waved his hand in front of him helplessly. "Great?" he tried.

"Never mind," Adalind muttered, and he looked both apologetic and relieved. He fled back to the dining room table where Kelly had managed to smear most of his bananas across the table and in his hair.

"I don't have time to clean him!" Adalind said in a panic, especially as cleaning him would undoubtedly result in Adalind having to start the whole process of getting ready all over again.

"I've got him," Nick replied hefting him into his arms and carrying him in the bathroom. She watched father and son disappear into the bathroom, absentmindedly opening her briefcase and filling it with a couple of legal pads; two file folders she had been reviewing the contents of before she was officially back at work; pens; and a couple of highlighters. She heard Kelly babble and squeal as Nick made him presentable again, and took a moment to marvel at how good he was at being a dad.

He didn't usually think so—and in fact was quite unconvinced of his talent and ability in that arena, but he really took to it well, and it suited him well. She had done good, she thought, to have had a child with him, although a year and a half ago you could not have convinced her it was anything but the worst mistake she could never have had predicted.

He took pains to make sure she and his son were as safe as possible, guarded them and would defend them with his life if need be to keep them all together, which was more than she could say about her last baby's father. She felt a pain in her chest when she thought of Diana, and turned away from Nick and Kelly in the next room to close her briefcase and get herself back under control. _Confident._ She told herself firmly. Thinking of Diana made her want to cry, and that definitely eroded one's confidence. She missed her terribly, and wondered if she was okay and if they would ever find her. Nick had said he thought she was okay, pointed out the Royals wanted her because she was a descendant of that line and would do everything in their power to protect that and her, but Adalind couldn't help but wonder what her daughter's life was like.

Did somebody love her? Understand her? Play with her? She looked again over to where Nick was with their child and felt an ache in her throat. How full and wonderful their son's life was, comparably speaking. Two parents that loved him and were devoted to him despite the utter clusterfuck that was his every reason of being. She hoped Diana understood how much she loved her and had wanted her—that she would do anything to have her back with her. She was grateful that Kelly—Nick's mom, Kelly- had taken such good care of her, had tried to do what she could to make things better despite all that had happened. She looked down and dabbed at her eyes. _Stop it,_ she told herself firmly.

"You okay?" Nick asked in concern, having come out of the bathroom, holding their son against his hip, and she looked up with a watery smile and tried to convince him she was fine. Kelly—their Kelly—looked at his mom with the same expression in his eyes as his father, and Adalind was reminded how much they looked alike, despite Nick claiming to never see it. He always thought Kelly looked like his mom, and Adalind didn't understand how Nick couldn't see that _he_ looked like his mom. Kelly's hair was starting to darken from the baby fine dirty blond locks that he had sported the last few months from his birth, into something that would probably more resemble his dad's deep brown hair color than hers when it was all said and done. He already had his father's smart green eyes, and Adalind wondered if she had managed to produce a mini-me of the man who she had blamed at one time for ruining her whole life after she set about ruining his. She wondered what it would feel like, if they ever broke up, to raise a child in such a likeness as to the one who she had tried to kill on several occasions, and decided she needed to give up this line of thinking before she broke down in tears and ruined her makeup.

"I'm fine," she managed to whisper and waved Nick away when he moved as if to embrace her. "I'm fine," she said, a little stronger and Nick rocked back on his heels.

"We need to get going." she said, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "I'm supposed to drop Kelly off at the daycare thirty minutes before work," and she had the sneaking suspicion she would use the remaining 25 minutes sobbing in the employee bathroom, agonizing over the decision. She wasn't sure about the daycare. Had wished someone like Rosalee could have taken him during the days instead, before remembering Rosalee had had a part in taking her daughter away from her. But she knew Rosalee wouldn't ever take Nick's child away from him, and she felt reasonably sure that she wouldn't take _another_ child away from herself. But Rosalee had the spice shop to tend to, and helping Nick with whatever Wesen case he presented her and Monroe with, and that was two full-time jobs anyway before you added caring for an infant into it. As it was, Rosalee was an emergency contact for Kelly in case something prevented either Nick or Adalind from reaching him and she would have to reconcile herself with that as enough.

"Okay," Nick said. He hefted Kelly's diaper bag, and Adalind shrugged into her coat, slung her handbag and briefcase over her shoulder and grabbed a travel mug of coffee and followed him out the door into the elevator.

"Mama, mama, mama," Kelly babbled and Adalind smiled at her son, but he continued to mumble to himself and anyone who would listen as Adalind mentally checked through her list of to-do's as they descended into the warehouse below.

"Okay, I think I got everything," she said as they stepped off, and Nick helped her load Kelly and his things into her car. Juliette's old car. When she got settled back in at work and a few paychecks behind her, she was going to buy a new car. Not that she didn't appreciate all that Nick had done to help her get back on her feet and support her, but driving your...whatever Nick was...but anyway, his former girlfriend's, who had turned into a Hexenbiest herself and blamed the mother of his child for her misfortune and then tried repeatedly to kill said mother of child, well, driving _her_ car was awkward.

And it was _so_ not her style, but Adalind had appreciated the independence the car had given her so she kissed Nick goodbye and took off for the next chapter in her life.

%%%%%%%

Oh my god. It was horrible. _Horrible._ And it's not that she knew it wasn't going to be easy, but... _oh my god._ _She_ was horrible.

She sniffled again, and tore off another piece of toilet paper from the dispenser in the stall where she had holed up in as soon as she had fled Kelly's daycare. It wasn't the people. They were so nice, and she genuinely liked them, but when she had handed Kelly over to his daycare worker, Felicia, and she had waved goodbye, and started to hurry out of the room, she had heard it. "Mama?"

There was no doubt he had realized she was leaving him there. This was further confirmed when he started to wail, but Adalind had kept going, as Felicia had instructed her to do—a clean break, she had said—and only cast tearful eyes over her shoulder as she rounded the doorway. She could still hear Kelly's cries as she fled the hallway for the bathroom, where she was currently ensconced, going over everything in her head, from his betrayed, tearful face, to her shortcomings as a mother, and wondering if she should just quit her job now and resign herself to being a burden to Nick for the rest of their natural lives. Or at least until Kelly finished college.

Felicia had called about ten minutes ago, to let her know Kelly was fine. Had quieted down, in fact, a few minutes after she had left, and Adalind managed a tearful thank you and hung up.

She sniffled again, and touched the tissue to her nose. She debated on calling Nick, but she had only just left him thirty minutes ago, and besides, he hated when she called him at the precinct crying about something that he had no idea how to fix over the phone. And really, there wasn't anything he could do to fix it anyway, except tell her to quit, and her own stubborn pride wouldn't allow for that, although she desperately wished for the scenario to play out that way anyway.

She told herself firmly to get a grip. Kelly was in good hands. Dozens of people had vetted that daycare as safe, caring, and educational. There had been a wait-list as a matter of fact to get in, and an interview process, which Nick had rolled his eyes at and grumbled and complained about when she had forced him to attend, but fortunately the director was Wesen, and when she realized who Nick was, and that she would be saying no to a Grimm, Kelly had jumped to the front of the line without even Adalind having to get bitchy. And she had been prepared to get bitchy if need be, although truthfully she was somewhat out of practice and relieved that she hadn't had to do it.

There definitely were some perks to having a child with Nick besides the obvious ones.

So, it was time to get her game face on, and that was easier said than done when she was a hexenbiest _with_ powers, but nevertheless, she threw her shoulders back, sniffed a couple of times more loudly, and stepped out of her stall. She flashed an apologetic smile at a startled woman at the sink beside her, and set about fixing her face to something resembling a functioning and mentally and emotionally well-balanced human being's.

"I can do this," she told her reflection, and took another deep breath and counted to ten and gathered her things and headed out the door.

%%%%%%

 _What_ had she been thinking when she told herself coming back to work was a good idea. Well, she knew what she had been thinking. She had been thinking she was getting bored of just staying at home, still uncomfortable about being basically Nick Burkhardt's kept woman/baby-mama/lover/whatever-it-was-too-complicated-to-label-right-now-with-a-label. Or at least too complicated for a one or two-word label. She had needed her independence back, and the financial stability that supported it, and she needed to contribute something to society other than adding to Nick's amusement on occasion.

Still, had it been so bad being a kept woman? Another time in her life she might not have minded so much, although Nick, on a detective's salary, really didn't make the kind of money where she had envisioned that scenario as being so desirable. Regardless, if she had stayed that way, at this time in the afternoon she and Kelly would be taking their daily sojourn to the coffee shop and park to enjoy the swings and the warm unseasonable weather. Not where she was now, in her corner office, locked in a glass fishbowl, trying desperately not to scream or cry where the vultures watching could see.

Her phone rang and she lunged for it, glad to have the excuse of taking her mind off her slow descent into insanity, and almost cried in relief when she saw who it was. She swiveled in her executive chair to look out the windows at the stunning view of Portland from her seventeenth floor office.

"Nick!"

"Just called to see how you were doing," Nick said, and she couldn't help a sob that threatened to escape. She really didn't deserve him. He really was quite caring and level-headed, and took his responsibility as a police officer, Grimm, father, and significant other quite seriously. That's what Adalind had called him as she was filling out paperwork this morning. Significant, Other. He was significant to her, and other, so she supposed it fit, but she realized how hard it was to explain his relationship to her to the real world and how impersonal the label sounded. Baby-daddy was true enough but it didn't really fit, as did lover, but that didn't seem to work either. Boyfriend felt strange on her tongue, after everything they had been through and been to each other, and Adalind just couldn't make herself say it. She had noticed neither had Nick, but she didn't think she had the right to ask what they should refer to themselves as to others. Besides, she was hoping he would figure something out on that front, and then she could just borrow his word.

"Adalind?" he said with some worry, and she realized she hadn't responded to his question.

"Oh, Nick," she managed. _It's awful,_ she wanted to say. She could imagine the look on his face, the adorable confusion, and found herself instead saying, "It's been a little bit rough going, but it's good. I'm glad to be back." She was sure if she just said that enough it would be true.

"That's good," Nick said after a moment where he probably debated on believing her, but true to form he didn't want to call her on it and risk getting into it. Adalind nodded her agreement even though he couldn't see it.

"How's your day?" She asked, deflecting conversation away from any more inquiries about her job.

"Hank and I are on a double-homicide," Nick replied.

"Fun," she said. He snorted.

"I might be a little late tonight. You're still okay to get Kelly, right?"

"Yeah," _if he'll have me after leaving him with total strangers all day_.

"Okay, great. That's all I really wanted, to check up on you and check about Kelly."

"Okay, well thanks," she said, and Nick said, "Gotta go," and hung up.

She heard the end-call tone sound and placed the phone on her desk with a sigh. She wished she could place her head on the desk, but she picked up the pen she had been using to scribble notes about one of the cases Berman had given her and started up again.

%%%%%%%

True to Nick's word, he wasn't home when Adalind slid the gate up and entered the loft with Kelly. She set him down gently and dropped her bag and briefcase with far less care. He had been fussy from the moment she picked him up, punishing her for leaving him, she was certain, and she felt she was in for a long battle into the night with him. One thing about Nick's genes, that Grimm determination, pun intended, had definitely been passed on. Otherwise Kelly had inherited his mother's stubbornness and that didn't bode well for the next couple of decades, either.

"I suppose we should find something to eat," She told Kelly, who toddled around unsteadily before falling to the ground and crawling to his toys. She marched to the fridge to survey its contents, looking for something simple and easy, and microwavable, maybe, since she still had a ton of depositions to go through. She could suddenly see the appeal of those TV dinners, though she had never deigned to have one herself, but the thought of dinner over and done within five minutes sounded magical. She closed the door to the fridge and opened a few cupboards instead, but all she could think about was feeding, bathing, and putting Kelly to bed so she could get started on work. She settled on getting Kelly something to eat, as he was the easiest to figure out anyway, and within a few minutes she had something in front of him.

...That he absolutely refused to eat. Even stared at her with that look Adalind remembered from Nick back when they weren't so accommodating to one another as they were now, the look that said, "Go ahead, if you think you can try it, but I guarantee you you won't last five seconds."

Great. One day in daycare and her son was already turning against her.

"Come on Kell-bell," she said, sitting beside his high chair, and wondering how her life could be masterminding convoluted legal arguments one minute, and uttering airplane, siren, and Wesen Sounds of Northern Austria to make a determined one-year old open his mouth and eat, the next.

Kelly didn't budge, and was starting to protest, in fact, when he heard the elevator clang, heralding the sound of his father, The Savior. "Dada?" he said and there was no mistaking the hope in his voice. Adalind sighed and gave up, as Kelly's attention was turned to his imminent rescue with Nick's arrival.

"Hey," Nick said. "I thought you might be tired after your first day, so I brought Chinese home," he held up the bags, and Adalind could have kissed him, and then decided she should do just that.

"Wow. That bad?" he asked, when they broke apart. Adalind just shook her head. "Well, you can tell me about it over dinner, if you want. Otherwise I've got a Gluhenvolk story that I'm sure you'll love."

%%%%%%%

"It's only the first day," Nick said, when Adalind relayed the whole sordid story to him in bed after he had fed, bathed, and put Kelly to bed, with minimal fussing on Kelly's part. She had taken a bath herself while Nick tended to Kelly and felt somewhat refreshed, but now she was staring at the depositions she had brought into the bedroom with her to look over, and she really just wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep.

"I know," she said with a sigh. She watched Nick fiddle about the room, removing his gun from his belt and stripping down into his boxers and T-shirt, dropping his clothes on the chair in the corner, before throwing back his side of the covers. He had a folder, too, to look over. Photos he wanted to go over again of a crime scene, and Adalind had caught a glimpse of one and had shuddered. Thank god she was a corporate lawyer, not a criminal one. Although she had seen and dealt with stuff far worse, she supposed, not all that long ago, and was glad those days were behind her.

She nudged a folder of her own with her foot and picked it up with sigh of resignation and leaned back against the headboard to study it.

"I forgot how much there is to do. It's so fast-paced and there's so much pressure," she said.

"You'll do great," Nick said, with the default response of the supportive... _boyfriend,_ she tried, and groaned inwardly. It just didn't work for them. She toyed with asking Nick point-blank what they were to each other in his mind, but she was always hesitant to force his attention on evaluating their confusing relationship, lest he suddenly recall everything that had occurred in it and decided enough was enough, and what the hell was he doing with her in this capacity? That she had his support raising their child was amazing, but that she had somehow through all of it earned his affection was incredible, and she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, no matter how much she wanted answers.

He was definitely different from all her lovers past, and that wasn't even getting into the fact he was a Grimm. He actually stood for something, and acted with integrity, because it was the right thing to do, not just the right thing to do for him. Sex between them was explosive, and she didn't know if it was just him, her, a combination of the two, or what happened when a Grimm and a Hexenbiest decided to get busy together. He stood up for her and supported her, and Adalind realized she needed to get off the subject of Nick and get focused on work. Berman was expecting a memo tomorrow morning and for her to present her findings in the 10:00 a.m. Meeting and she needed more pertinent information on her notes than Nick's name dotted with a little heart over the "i", which was probably what he was going to get if she kept on this sentimental train of thought.

She glanced over at Nick who was studying a particularly gruesome photo of the deceased with his cop's eyes. She allowed a moment to admire his profile, noting that she saw a strong resemblance between son and father in the line of his jaw and shape of his skull. She wished she had some photos of Nick as a baby to compare Kelly to, and wondered if Nick had any in storage somewhere. She glanced down at her lap, and the blank legal pad beside her, and forced herself to get serious.

She awoke with a start, Nick leaning over her to turn off the bedside lamp. The room was blanketed in darkness, and it took a few seconds to adjust her eyes to the small amount of light that streamed through from the windows above them. "What time is it?" She asked sleepily.

"11:50," Nick said, and she realized with a jolt that she had to be up in five hours, and still had three more depositions to go through. She turned to the nightstand, where she could make them out where Nick had laid them, and pondered getting up and going to the kitchen to continue. The decision was made, however, when she felt Nick settle beside her, arm slung protectively around her, and nose pressed into the crook of her neck, and she relaxed into the embrace, letting the fatigue wash over her.

"Goodnight," he murmured placing a kiss against her temple and she heard his breathing level out into the even keel associated with sleep after a while. She pondered her case and her life before sleep finally decided to take pity on her.


	2. Chapter 2

"How long have you been up?" Nick asked with surprise on his way to his morning shower. She was hunched over on a barstool at the kitchen counter, finishing her notes on the depositions.

"What time is it?"

"Six-thirty," Nick said, and Adalind glanced at her naked wrist before remembering she still needed to stop by a jeweler's and get a new watch.

"Since about 5:15," she replied, still scribbling.

"Are you done?"

"Almost," she said, and lifted her head in acknowledgment when Nick bent over and pressed a kissed against the crook of her neck. He wrapped his arms around her and continued his exploration with his mouth, touching lips against her, neck, collar bone, shoulder, and temple before straightening when she didn't respond.

"Need the bathroom?" he asked and Adalind shook her head. He disappeared and Adalind spent another fifteen minutes before wrapping up her work and sliding off the stool to get dressed. When Nick reappeared five minutes after that, she was half dressed in stockings, a pencil skirt with a pleated flare in the middle, and her bra, debating which Donna Karen top she was going to wear. She smiled in amusement when she noticed she had attracted his attention, and they watched each other dress in the mirror, Nick in worn dark blue denim and a brown Henley, and Adalind in a black and white color blocked silk blouse, without being too obvious about it.

"You look very nice," Nick said, stepping up behind her and trying his luck again and burying his nose in the side of her neck as he kissed his way up it. He smelled good from his shower, masculine scent of his shampoo and shower gel making her slightly heady and turned on. The five o'clock stubble that seemed to perpetually cover his face tickled and scratched a little as his chin and cheek rubbed against her exposed skin.

 _"_ _Very nice?"_ she teased. "I've upgraded from yesterday," and he rolled his eyes and straightened.

"What do you want me to say. You're beautiful and you know it," he said matter-of-factly, taking a seat on the bench at the end of the bed and putting on his shoes and socks. She felt her heart flutter as it always did when Nick made an unguarded compliment to her. He wasn't profuse in his remarks, and even less so about his feelings with her, but it was real, and honest, and there was no string attached to it. Just Nick's affection and she wished she was as deserving of it as he was of hers.

She knew she loved him. She didn't know anyone else who would have done what he had done, protected her and his unborn child despite the fact that they had held each other in bitter contempt, although she had been counting on that when she had come to him in Renard's office, and had placed his hand over her stomach as Kelly kicked furiously. Like he had known his father was in the room, and was excited to finally meet him. She had come to the dismayed conclusion a long, long time ago, not long after an awkward conversation with Trubel on the main floor of the warehouse, that her feelings for Nick were more than likely one-sided. He tolerated her for Kelly's sake, but he surprised her by truly making an effort with her. She had never dared to hope Nick might feel the same until he had kissed her one day, and then over the course of the next few months, continued to repeat it, no longer denying the attraction they had both felt. She had thought she might be the replacement for a dead, then undead ex-girlfriend, or a solution to the tight confines of the loft and his loneliness, but he genuinely seemed to put Juliette behind him and accepted whatever weird evolution their relationship had taken.

Though they had been together over a year now, he had never specifically told her he loved her, and Adalind had never admitted outright the same to Nick. She was reasonably sure he did; She thought he did anyway. He had admitted on several occasions to liking her, when it was clear that "liking her," meant more than just face-value.

"A woman likes to be reminded of it every now and then," she said, leaning against the dresser to watch him tie up his shoes.

"If I did that there'd be no living with you," he said, and she gave him a look. "But I'll try and keep that in mind," he amended at her expression.

He seemed to labor under the impression that she was inundated with compliments about her beauty and attributes, and therefore the effort was meaningless or unappreciated. The truth was throughout most of her life she had rarely heard them sincerely expressed, and because of that she loved to hear them from Nick. She tried every now and then to find out what else Nick thought of her-fishing for compliments, he called it-but he didn't usually go around gushing his feelings _about_ her much less _to_ her. She knew he thought she was beautiful, because he had told her. He also thought she was smart, sweet, and a good mother to his son.

He stood and she watched him with arms folded across her chest as he clipped his gun to his belt. He moved to stand in front of her and she followed his arm as he reached behind where she was standing for his watch on the dresser. They locked eyes as he put it on, and Adalind was hard pressed to not be affected by his closeness. Adalind thought she heard a noise from Kelly's room, and she was reminded that he needed to get up soon so she could feed him and get him ready for daycare.

Nick propped his hand on the edge of the dresser and leaned in close.

"You do look beautiful," he said softly. "You look like the first day I ever saw you. All put-together and business, sexy, and expensive, and way out of my league," and Adalind's heart lurched at the admission. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he leaned in to close the distance between them and kissed her deeply.

Though they didn't really hide their relationship, they didn't flaunt it either, and Adalind thought it was as much about protecting her and Kelly from any threats as it was about their ability to accept that something had changed profoundly between them, and that something wasn't just having a kid together.

"Was this before I woged and scared the hell out of you?" she asked when they came up for air.

"Yes, it was before you woged and scared the hell out of me," Nick said with a sigh.

"I knew you were checking me out," she said with a smile.

"I wasn't checking you out, _Hank_ was checking you out," he said a little too quickly.

"Right," she said, and Nick smiled, although distantly as though remembering some memory. She wanted to ask what it was, but she heard Kelly call for her and Nick.

"Somebody's up," Nick said with a sigh, and she watched him go fetch their son from his crib.

%%%%%%%

She spent the next four days locked in relatively the same routine. Dropping Kelly off at daycare, sobbing in a locked stall afterwards, (although she managed to get her sobbing down to only ten minutes by the end of the week). She got up early to do work and stayed up late to do work. Nick took over most of the daily parenting of Kelly without much comment while she settled into her new role as a working mom. By the time Friday rolled around she was exhausted and ready for the weekend. Except she was going to be working all weekend, by the looks of it. She and Lane were working through contracts on a merger, and her desk was strewn with papers as she went over them.

She drew her brows together in annoyance when Anita, her administrative assistant, entered her office. "There's a detective here to see you?" Adalind's expression didn't change until she realized who said detective probably was. She looked past Anita into the bullpen where, sure enough, Nick was leaning casually against Anita's work station, gold badge on his hip prominently on display, and attracting most of the attention in the law office. If he hadn't been aware before, he certainly was now that Berman's law firm had quite a few Wesen employees, and they were all now equally aware that a Grimm was in their midst. And that said Grimm was looking for her, because this was an office, and word travelled fast. Oh great, that ought to make for some awkward looks and conversation in the breakroom.

She noticed not all the attention Nick had attracted was terror; there was some curiosity as well, and some interest from the female population she noted sourly as Anita openly checked him out. He did have a working man's to-protect-and-to-serve, sexy kind of vibe about him. The Henley, the work boots and tight denim, and the lightweight black jacket he always wore working quite well for him. His tall, lean frame, two-day stubble and dark thick hair made for an attractive package—he really was kind of hot for a Grimm, she thought-and Adalind and Anita both sighed contentedly, before Adalind straightened and tapped some papers together, and Anita coughed in embarrassment.

"Send him in," Adalind said briskly, deciding that getting him away from hungry eyes was probably the best course of action. Anita walked out of the office and sashayed up to Nick who was watching her with his cop eyes as she approached and smiled politely when she indicated Nick should precede her to Adalind's office.

"Hey," he said and Adalind smiled. "Nick," she replied, and then glanced behind Nick with a pointed look to dismiss Anita.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when the door to her office had closed.

"Thought since you survived your first week, I'd come take you to lunch," he said, moving past Adalind to take in the view. "Wow, this is your office? This is nice," he added looking around, and she noticed his eyes roving over the contents of the office, lingering on certain things as he added them up to whatever assumption he was creating in his mind before resting his eyes on Adalind. "Corner office," he said, and he had obviously come to the conclusion that she had done quite well for herself. Berman had certainly pulled out all the stops to entice her back. Now she was expected to earn it.

He took a seat in one of the chairs before her desk, an expensive, contemporary, modern office chair, and he could not have looked more out of place than he did right now. It didn't appear he found the chair very comfortable either, judging from his body language, as he shifted restlessly for a moment, before removing his gun holster from his side and setting it on his lap.

"Lunch?" She said, glancing at the crystal Tiffany clock on her desk and noticing that it was indeed time for lunch. She looked at the piles of work still covering her desk and thought she was probably going to be eating in, and glanced at Nick apologetically.

"Ummm...gonna have to take a raincheck," she said, and he looked at her desk and nodded. "But thank you," she added, grateful that he had made the gesture, and he shrugged in acknowledgment.

"How you been doing?" he asked, looking at the mess surrounding her.

"Good, I mean it's better, I'm better," and she supposed it was true. Truth was she was exhausted. It was difficult, demanding work. She had a wonderful but at times difficult and demanding child, and a difficult and demanding life with Nick and his work that always seemed to bleed over into everything else although he couldn't help being a Grimm, or a detective, or just being him, she decided.

"That's good," Nick replied and was cut off from saying anything else when Lane walked into her office.

"Adalind have you seen the notes that Daily—oh, Hello," he said glancing up and noticing Nick, who offered a raised eyebrow and polite smile, and Adalind nearly laughed out loud when Lane's eyes bulged as he spotted the gun lying on Nick's lap. Lane glanced with concern at Adalind, and Adalind swallowed her laughter and said, "Lane this is-"

"Nick Burkhardt," Nick said, standing and clipping his holster back on his belt, and Lane noticed the badge on Nick's hip. Nick held out his hand for Lane, who hesitantly shook it still looking back and forth between Nick and Adalind.

"Nice to meet you," Lane said.

"Nick's a detective with the Portland P.D.," Adalind clarified, although that really didn't explain what Nick might be doing in her office.

"Did they discover some sort of securities fraud on the Eisenhower/Bachman merger?" He asked Adalind, still confused as to why a detective might be in her office.

"No," Adalind said, "Nick's a homicide detective," she said. And before Lane could ask who was killed, Nick said, "I just stopped by to see if Adalind wanted to go to lunch, but it looks like you guys have a lot of work to do. Raincheck," he agreed, and Adalind nodded.

"Good to meet you," he said to Lane, who was still staring at Nick.

"Sure, how do you know Adalind?" he asked, and Nick replied blithely, "We go way back," and was almost out the door when Lane stopped him with his next comment.

"Oh, you should invite him then, to the office party next week," Lane said, and Adalind closed her eyes and groaned inwardly. The office party. Right. Nick had had his hand on the door, but paused to look at Lane.

"We're celebrating Adalind's return. We're so glad to have her back," Lane explained, looking at her, and Nick followed his gaze to her, where she was trying not to squirm in her seat. She had had no intention of mentioning the office party to Nick. Well, maybe she would have brought it up nonchalantly in passing, when he was in the shower or something and probably wouldn't hear her, and she would have made sure there was clear opportunity for Nick to politely turn it down, but she would never have backed him into it like Lane was doing now.

"You'll have to come. I mean, you're an old friend of Adalind's, right? It's next Friday night. You're free? I mean, naturally, you'll be there?"

Nick glanced from Lane and Adalind and Adalind started shaking her head.

"What time?" Nick asked, looking at Adalind again, before turning his attention back to Lane, and she blanched. He wasn't actually going to go was he?

"8:30. Hobart's," Lane named the elegant and elite restaurant where the party was being hosted, and which Nick would undoubtedly feel out of place and be bored out of his mind at.

"Sure, wouldn't miss it," he said and Adalind felt her jaw drop. She snapped it shut before Lane looked over at her in triumph and managed a strangled smile instead.

"I'll see you tonight," Nick said to her, and was out the door, curious heads turning in his wake, watching him stride out of the law office.

"Tonight? Are you two...? Say, is that the guy you're with?"

Adalind managed to nod, still reeling from what had just happened. "Yeah, that's the guy I'm with."


	3. Chapter 3

_What_ the hell was she going to do? They didn't _do_ office parties. Couples, _normal_ couples, did office parties, and it went the hell without saying Nick and Adalind were as far from a normal couple as one could get.

Among strangers, they were a bit more relaxed together. If anyone could tell Nick was a Grimm, then no one could at least tell Adalind was Wesen thanks to her still suppressed powers. It wasn't as awkward then, having the urge to explain why they were together, and furthermore strangers didn't demand an explanation, they just went with the assumption. Rosalee and Monroe were aware that they were involved and even somewhat supportive, and she thought Hank and some of the people Nick worked with knew they were more than just roommates but it was like they understood the appalling history they shared was hard for everyone they knew to swallow, so they rarely advertised that they were together-together by engaging in public displays of affection or any overtly familiar behavior when they were around people they knew. And she supposed Nick was reasoning he didn't know anyone at her office anyway and it would be okay, but Adalind knew quite a few, and _everybody_ knew her now, and several of those were even aware of her supernatural state of being. They would be more than a little curious and appalled that she was literally sleeping with the enemy, never mind when they put two and two together and realized Nick was Kelly's father.

"Oh god," she moaned. This was impossible. Although perhaps Nick had agreed only out of politeness and pity? In which case it might not be so hard to dissuade him. And there was always the chance he could be called away to work, or maybe she could get in touch with Meisner or something and have him call Nick to go over something related to the Hadrian Way or the uprising. _Hey, Meisner, it's Adalind. Would do me a favor and spill some juicy government secret to Nick, at oh, say, 8:30 ish?_ Not like she had Meisner on speed dial, anyway. Nick didn't even have a way of readily reaching him.

It was going to be a disaster, she thought. They had survived a lot together, but she wasn't sure if they could survive this.

%%%%%%

"It's not going to be that bad," Rosalee soothed. "I mean, you have a few drinks, you mingle, and you go home."

"It's the mingling I'm worried about. The drinking…ohhh, I plan to be drinking. And I'm sure Nick would make sure we got home."

"Why are you so worried?"

"Because! Nick…and…I….together! It's a little hard to explain."

Rosalee frowned. "Why do you have to explain it?"

"Grimm/Hexenbiest? Mortal enemies living together in harmony with a kid, I mean, I don't even know what to call him to other people. _Hello Rosalee, this is my boyfriend Nick._ "

"What's wrong with that?"

"Are you kidding? No. Boyfriend just doesn't work. What, like we met on a park bench when we were sharing an umbrella, and then we went to coffee, and one thing led to another and here we are? That's not us. That's not even in the realm of possibility for us. No. My _Lover_ , Nick?" She tried and Rosalee wrinkled her nose and shook her head. " _Baby-daddy_ Nick? My roommate Nick? The man who I share relationship so complicated I can't even put words to it Nick? Rosalee! It's going to be a disaster!"

"Well, okay, how does Nick refer to you?"

"Adalind."

"Does he call you his girlfriend, or…"

"Adalind. He calls me Adalind. See, everybody he knows already knows me, so he just calls me Adalind. _Sean you remember Adalind? Hank I'm going out tonight with Adalind. Let me introduce you; this is Adalind._ I don't think he knows what to call us either."

"Hmm…"

"I have no idea how to refer to him to other people. Significant other? Partner? Half the people there are going to know he's a Grimm, and there's a few of them that knew me from before," she said. "When they realize I'm with him…"

"Are you embarrassed to be with him?"

"What? No, no, no," Adalind said quickly, shaking her head. "That's not it. Actually I feel pretty lucky that we're together and things have worked out as well as they have."

"You should," Rosalee said, but there was no real bite to it.

"Thanks. I just feel…that every time people see me, really see me, they can see what I once was, and how I acted, and all the things that I did before, and then they see Nick and I know they think, _She doesn't deserve him._ Or, _What's he doing with her_? I mean, I know the things I've done…and I've tried to change, but it's not going to erase everything that happened between us. He's a really nice guy and he's been so great through all of it—more than I deserved, I know, and I keep thinking one day he'll wake up and realize that…that he settled down in a relationship with me because it's the "right thing" to do because of Kelly. And not because it's what he wanted to do, just what he should do," she finished quietly.

Rosalee frowned again, and came around the counter. "I don't think Nick's stayed with you this long out of a sense of duty. He genuinely seems to care about you and I think he's pretty serious about you." Adalind raised her eyes to Rosalee.

"You've changed. I mean, once you stopped trying to kill all of us, you're really quite likeable, and funny and smart. I can see how well you complement each other. You're actually really good for Nick. After everything that happened with Juliette, he needed you."

"I'm the reason everything happened with Juliette," Adalind said. "And I keep waiting for him to come to that realization." Rosalee reached out a hand and laid it over Adalind's.

"Adalind, he already came to it. We all know what happened to Juliette and who bears responsibility and you're not responsible for everything. I mean a lot, sure, but Nick, Monroe and I, and Juliette—we all made choices and played a part too. It's not as cut and dried as you think. There's so many other factors involved."

Adalind nodded and played with a bracelet on her wrist.

"I think Nick just wants to be happy again," Rosalee said.

"Like he was with Juliette," Adalind said. "But I'm not Juliette."

"You make him happy. Hard as it may be for you, or anyone else, to believe."

"What happens when I don't or someone else makes him happier?" She was well aware that Nick owed her nothing. She had never wanted to have anything to do with Nick Burkhardt. Had been a time in her life when she had wished she had never met him, and now she had a hard time contemplating what she would ever do without him. It was terrifying how fast and how easily he slipped under her defenses and taken root in her heart. The depth of feeling had caught her by surprise, and she was reminded how easy he was to fall in love with and how difficult she could be to tolerate.

"Adalind, you should talk to Nick," and Adalind smiled and nodded, although she doubted she'd ever tell him any of this. "And you should go to the party. I mean, it's for you right? You can't miss your own party, and Nick wouldn't want you to either."

"We don't have a babysi—"

"Kelly can just spend the night with his Aunt Rosalee and Uncle Monroe," Rosalee added brightly and Adalind slouched in her chair. "Ugh, I haven't seen him for ages. You know he calls Monroe Mo-mo?"

"You saw him a month ago at his birthday party, and yes, Nick told me," Adalind said, snickering.

"A month! A month ago, Adalind! That's too long. I bet he's so big."

"He's basically the same size."

"You know what I mean. Oh! We can have like a little sleepover! I saw _the_ cutest little pajamas. They had these little monsters and the feet. Oh, see? Now it's settled."

%%%%%%%

Soooo...Obviously, Rosalee's support in dissuading Nick from attending was out. So that left Adalind to use her considerable feminine wiles to charm Nick out of it, except Nick had never been particularly susceptible to her wiles. Had shown a fair amount of admirable resistance, in fact.

She thought about sexing him a bit (or maybe a lot, if needed), maybe in the shower one morning, or after they put Kelly to bed, and then bringing up the fact that she understood that he had been kind of strong-armed into some boring after-work party with a bunch of corporate lawyers and that she _totally_ didn't mind if he stayed home, it was going to be three hours of suits talking legal theory. After all she had put him through she wouldn't think of putting him through _that_. He wasn't any different from any other man after sex; In a post-coital haze, barely listening, and agreeable to pretty much anything if the situation was presented at the right time.

Perhaps it might have worked, too, but she spent the whole week still trying to get a handle on her caseload; working late into the nights at home and taking care of Kelly, so that she was so exhausted she fell asleep with a highlighter in her mouth one night, and then rushing around in the mornings trying to get an increasingly belligerent Kelly ready to go on time. The only time they had shared the bathroom for any length of time, was once when Adalind had barged in front of Nick shaving at the sink to wash applesauce off her face and neck, and the conversation they had had following had been anything but sexy or charming.

By the time she realized time was running out it was the Friday morning of the party, and she was once again rushing around the loft, Nick an irritating paradigm of composure to her disorganized morning routine.

"Do you want me to pick you up at the office tonight, or am I going to meet you there, or are you going to come home to change?" Nick asked as he was reading the paper with his breakfast, and she was getting ready in the bedroom.

Adalind spied the perfect opening.

"Oh, Nick. You don't really have to do this," she said nonchalantly, but maybe not nonchalantly enough because Nick looked up from the news and stared at her for a moment as though trying to read her. "I don't really expect you to hang out for three hours while we all talk about old cases," she said as she walked into the living areas and deposited Kelly in the high chair beside Nick.

"It's not a big deal," Nick replied dismissively. "Besides, Rosalee's already lined up to babysit. Monroe said she's really excited about having Kelly spend the night." _Of course she is,_ Adalind thought despondently. She pondered raising her concerns about the party to Nick as she put her earrings in.

"You don't think it will be awkward for us?"

"Why would it be awkward?" he asked, confused and she frowned. _Really?_ "You mean because you're former Wesen and I'm a Grimm and we should hate each other? I think we've mostly moved past that part of our relationship," Nick replied returning to his paper again.

"Nick."

"Oh, you mean awkward because we spent years trying to ruin each other lives and then decided to raise a kid together?" Nick asked. Adalind narrowed her eyes at him.

"Nobody knows any of that but us. We'll be fine. I can drop you off this morning and pick you up later tonight, if you like?" She sighed, and rubbed her hand against her forehead.

"No, I'll need to change before we go to the restaurant," and she wasn't organized enough this morning to have a second outfit all picked out and ready to take with her.

"Okay," Nick agreed readily enough, "I'll meet you here at home around seven or seven-thirty. I've got some paperwork to catch up on at work anyway."

So much for charming him.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Thank you all for the great feedback. Makes me so happy and keeps the muse humming. Some of you were hoping for a more romantic type party, and unfortunately, office parties just aren't that exciting, unless there's a lot of alcohol involved (sometimes the only way to survive them). Anyway, hopefully you won't be too disappointed.

%%%%%%%%

She had forgotten how well he cleaned up. He was wearing a charcoal suit, black dress shirt and tie—one that Adalind had picked out—and he looked… _really_ good. He had been dressed in a suit when she had doubled dated with Hank and him and Juliette, she remembered, and she recalled he had looked good then, too.

He didn't appear to be nervous about tonight, but then again she supposed after hunting Wesen and murderers and fighting repeated attempts on his life, or her life, or anyone else's he cared about, maybe it was all relative. A cocktail party with 150 people he didn't know or even care about really probably was a drop in the bucket compared to a secret organization or a supernatural uprising that spanned continents or whatever else normally occurred in his life.

She watched him fiddle with a cufflink, surprised he even _had_ cufflinks, and then moved to help him as he fumbled with it.

"I got it," he said with a brief smile, and indeed, by the time Adalind reached him, he was working on straightening the other one. He smiled at Adalind, looking as handsome as she had ever seen him, and she debated on seeing whether she could convince him to about face and head home. She could be quite convincing if she needed to be. Rosalee and Monroe had taken Kelly for the night. It would be a shame to waste a perfectly empty loft and babysitter with something like a cocktail party.

"Don't even think about it," Nick said.

"What?" she blinked, looking at him. He flashed her a knowing look. "You've got that look about you. I know I may be irresistible tonight, but hands off." She narrowed her eyes in disbelief and he grinned wider. "At least until after the party, then you can put your hands wherever you like."

She scoffed, and he smirked and put his hand against the small of her back to direct her to the maître-d who looked at Nick primly.

"Adalind Schade" he said, "Guest of honor."

"Berman, Rautbort and Associates," Adalind said, and the maitre'd led them towards the back of the restaurant. Nick's hand was warm and solid on her back as he guided her around tables to a large room divided from the rest of the restaurant by two sets of French doors. Adalind entered and halted suddenly as everyone in the room began to clap, and she felt both flattered, embarrassed, and exposed. Nick still pressed close against her where he had almost run into her when she had stopped and she smiled at everyone, took a deep breath and stepped into the room. _Drink. Mingle. Go home._ Well, the sooner she got started the sooner they could leave. She grabbed a flute off a tray, raised her glass to everyone and Nick, who had snagged some champagne himself, and tipped her head back.

"Adalind!"

She pulled the champagne away, and smiled at Berman, the surgically enhanced hag who was his wife beside him, and Rautbort and his boyfriend standing together over near the bar.

"Adalind, you remember my wife Shannon?"

Shannon, yes, that was her name. Adalind did remember her. She went to a spa every three to four months and every time she came back something different was about her face. Or body. She spent Berman's money like some people went through toilet paper and other than the obvious, which wasn't that obvious really, Adalind had no idea what Berman saw in her.

"Of course," Adalind said, and then said hello to Rautbort and Scott, his partner. "This is Nick," she added, and hoped that would be enough since she still didn't know what exactly she should call him. Nick shook hands with everyone, and Adalind thought they might get through it all okay until Berman said, "So Nicholas, how do you know our Adalind?"

 _Nicholas?_

"Oh, we met about…six years ago, was it?" he said turning to her as though actually trying to remember. _Yes, when I tried to kill your aunt in the hospital, and stabbed you with the poison instead._ Oh, God. The good ole days, as Nick referred to it. She was going to need another drink. "I actually saw her for the first time outside your offices as a matter of fact."

"Oh? Were you one of her clients then?"

"No, I was actually picking up a ring from the jeweler next door," Nick replied, and Adalind tried not to look surprised at this admission. She had never known he and Juliette had been engaged. "It didn't work out," Nick added when Shannon and a few others who had joined the group glanced between them. And Adalind snorted into her champagne. That was the understatement of the year.

"Lucky for you," Rautbort said with a wink and Adalind quickly finished her drink and grabbed another one from a server walking by.

"So Nicholas, what is it you do?" Shannon asked, looking him over, and Adalind narrowed her eyes. She was right here, for pete's sake. Not to mention the woman's own husband, but Berman seemed oblivious, or maybe he just didn't care.

"I'm a homicide detective for the Portland P.D.," _Nicholas_ replied, glancing at Adalind, who had finished her drink and was eyeing Nick's.

"Really? How…interesting," Shannon replied, clearly taken aback somewhat. Probably thought Nick was her tennis instructor, or dog walker or something. Shannon looked at Adalind and Adalind couldn't refrain from smirking.

"That must be absolutely depressing, sometimes, I can't imagine."

"It has its moments," Nick agreed.

"Adalind, someone said you had had a baby," Scott interjected. _Lane_. Lane had said no doubt.

"Yup," she said, "A little boy, he just turned one."

"How adorable."

"You must bring him and show him off sometime," and Adalind smiled thinking about Kelly. Maybe she would bring him in one day, show him his mommy's office. He loved to go down to the police station and see Nick, but then he loved to see Nick period.

"So Nicholas, I'm sure you've seen the article in the paper last week. What do you think is the reason for the increase in crime in Portland in the last few months?" Berman asked, "and particularly violent crime. It said that homicides had increased 13% over last year."

"You must keep busy," someone commented, and Nick smiled wryly. "There are many reasons for that increase, and we've got some good detectives out in the field on it, but that's not why we're here," Nick remarked politely, smiling at Adalind, who shook her head so slightly no one but probably him noticed it. He narrowed his eyes in response.

"Are you doing anything to catch these criminals?" Berman persisted, and Adalind bristled. Obviously he didn't recall Nick and Hank were the detectives who investigated the law firms last two mysterious deaths, but then Berman had never been particularly observant about stuff like that. It explained his wife's behavior; she obviously wasn't concerned she'd get caught by him.

Nick was actually a very good cop, had read, or heard from Sean, maybe, that he was one of the youngest to ever make detective in Portland Police history. Even when you looked outside of him being a Grimm he had a decent solve rate, and when you factored that in, he had the best solve rate in the whole city. She had noticed a couple of awards, even, on the walls at the station with his name on them, but he had brushed them off when she pointed them out.

"Okay, Berman," someone said, and Adalind recognized Louis Parker, who she had worked with and…slept with…several years ago. "I think we can revisit that some other time. Hello Adalind," he said, kissing her on the cheek. "You look wonderful. I hear you're back with us?"

"That's why we're here," Adalind replied.

"And you're-? I'm sorry Berman was blathering on and on so I didn't quite catch your name?" Louis said, turning to Nick.

"Nick Burkhardt," Nick said offering his hand and Louis shook it.

"Adalind, let me get you another drink. What are you having?"

"Alcohol," she said without thinking and everybody laughed as though she had said something witty. God it was going to be a long night if this kept up.

"Come, I want to introduce you to some new people," Rautbort said. "Nick, you don't mind if I borrow your charming wife, is it?" Adalind started shaking her head, but he didn't wait for a response. Nick refrained from rolling his eyes, the assumption that they were married one he dealt with frequently.

"Oh, I didn't know she got married!" Adalind heard someone exclaim as she was led away.

She rolled her eyes when she heard "Well, obviously, she had a baby," also reach her ears. She gave Nick a helpless look and let herself be dragged off by Rautbort and Louis. She noticed Berman turn back to Nick and then the rest turned back to their own conversations.

%%%%%%%

Rautbort led her around the room for thirty minutes, introducing or reintroducing her to some of the other lawyers at the firm. Louis trailed along with him, sipping his champagne and watching her carefully. It was clear after five minutes of conversation that Louis was ready to pick things up where they left off in their relationship. Problem was, Adalind hadn't been attracted to Louis beyond what he could do for her, and suffice to say, there wasn't anything he could do for her now that Nick wasn't already doing a hundred times better. She had thought maybe she had broken it off when he had mentioned a wife, but honestly, it had been seven or eight years ago.

"I must say, I have a hard time imagining you married," Rautbort remarked.

"Makes two of us," she said, almost holding her hand out to show him there was no ring, but then she thought better of it. Perhaps having a husband would deter interested parties (Louis) from pursuing her. Then again, him having a wife hadn't deterred him before.

"And a baby I hear? How domestic of you. I would have never had guessed."

"Yes, well, we all grow up sometimes," she said with a polite smile and Rautbort returned one of his own. He excused himself and disappeared near one of the food tables, leaving Adalind with Louis. She glanced around for an escape.

"Rumor is he's a Grimm," Louis said, and she turned back to him with narrowed eyes. "There's also a rumor, that you're no longer a hexenbiest. The Grimm took your powers?"

She had forgotten Louis was one of their more devious partners, and she recalled with sudden clarity that was one of the reasons she had liked him before.

"Well, you know what they say about rumors," she said.

"Yes, that they're usually true. My dear girl, what _are_ you thinking?"

"It's complicated," Adalind said, hoping he would drop the subject. She assumed he was referring to when she had first left the firm, years ago, when Nick had taken her powers. She didn't know where he had come across that little tidbit, but her abrupt departure likely aroused several people's curiosity. She didn't know how much her mother would have said, either. She had not been pleased that Adalind has allowed herself to be used in such a way. Honestly, she had been totally floored by Nick's ploy. Equal parts repulsed and intrigued, ashamed to admit it, and to admit that she had been so cleverly outmaneuvered. Never in all her years of hearing and fearing of Grimms did she ever expect one to behave as Nick did, then and now.

He stepped closer, right into Adalind's personal space. "The child you have is his?"

Well, that was quite forward of him. He was disturbingly well informed, Adalind thought, wondering where he got his information. Like their relationship, it wasn't a big secret that Nick and Adalind had a child together, but it wasn't something they advertised. The few people outside their inner circle that knew about it, didn't realize the significance of it.

Adalind had always had a pretty strong sense of self-preservation, but since losing Diana she had an even stronger inclination to protect her child. Both were fighting for dominance, so it was this that influenced her to say, "So long as he thinks so."

Louis smiled. "There's also a rumor that you are raising the child with the Grimm."

The Grimm had a name, she thought, but said instead, "That's a lot of talk at the watercooler. We have an arrangement," she replied, wondering what business it was of his.

"I'm surprised to see him here with you," Louis observed, "but then you did know how to make an entrance. I can't imagine what you mean by it, showing up with him."

See she knew it was a bad idea for them to go to this party together. This- _this_ —was exactly what she was talking about when she was trying to explain it to Rosalee.

"We both had Friday night off and nothing better to do," she retorted. "Also, Lane invited him." Louis raised his eyebrow and smiled a slick grin across his face and she suppressed a shudder. She really wished that anybody else would come interrupt their conversation, but no one bothered them. He leaned closer and Adalind smiled tightly.

"There's a revolution coming, you know," he told her, watching her closely. "I certainly hope when the time comes we can count on you to be on the right side of it."

She managed to maintain her composure, but she couldn't stop the prickle of anxiety, suddenly wondering what he was trying to get at.

"Of course," she said.

"I can imagine with the child he's obviously going to keep you close to him. The question Is, do you want to be kept close?"

 _Yes,_ she thought resolutely, but she sensed Louis was looking for something particular in her response, and years of playing both sides of the coin surged suddenly in her memory. Always best to hedge your bets, she thought, until she could determine what Louis was about. "No one else is volunteering with what I would need. Nick makes sure my son is safe, and no harm comes to him or I as long as we remain with him," she said.

"We could use someone on the inside," he continued in a murmur. "Someone close to him. I understand you feel isolated without the support of your Wesen friends. This could be a way out from under the Grimm's control." And Adalind raised her eyebrow and wished for another drink. "Your talents are being wasted, my dear. Perhaps you might be interested in using them where they might be appreciated."

Ugh, she wanted away, away, _away_ from him. He was talking of her betraying Nick, risking her chilid, her family, his friends, some of which were now _her_ friends. Or at least Rosalee, she supposed. The others still didn't trust her enough—they trusted Nick, and _he_ trusted her, and this that he was talking about would prove every one of their assumptions about her right.

"That's an interesting proposition," she responded. "One to think about for sure," and Louis nodded.

"We can help you get your powers back, make you complete," he added, and Adalind managed a look of intrigue, but secretly if she never became a hexenbiest again she would be content. She had Kelly and Nick, and she didn't want that life anymore.

"I think I see Lane waving me over," she murmured, making it up, but he didn't bother turning around anyway.

"We'll be in touch. Occultatum Libera." he said, and Adalind nodded and slipped away quickly. She didn't look behind her but she could feel him watching her as she walked away from him.

%%%%%%

She was reasonably sure that if she wiggled enough, she could fit through the bathroom window. The hardest part was going to be reaching it. The bottom ledge was six feet off the round, and there weren't really any good footholds to be had. If Nick were in here she could ask for a boost, but Nick wasn't in here, and in fact she hadn't seen him for a good forty-five minutes.

Nick may have already said the hell with this and boosted himself out of his own bathroom window.

Maybe he got called in on a homicide, or he told Trubel or Eve or someone to actually _commit_ a homicide so he could be called in.

Maybe she had had too much to drink.

She squinted at the window again and then turned when the stall opened up, a vacant smile before she locked herself in.

"I heard you got married?" the woman said, and Adalind placed her head in her hands. "Your husband is hot."

Yes, he kind of was. Except the part where they got married and he was her husband.

"Thanks," Adalind said, when she wasn't sure what she should say. She was pretty sure if she tried to deny it now, no one would listen to her anyway.

"Weren't you going out with somebody else at the police station? I remember him, and your guy, that wasn't him." _Sean._ She meant Sean.

"What can I say, I have a type," she said, and then flushed the toilet so she could drown out any more commentary. She held the handle down for a good fifteen seconds before leaving the stall.

The woman was gone, thankfully, and Adalind at least got to wash her hands in peace before crossing leaving via bathroom window off her list. She did have a type, and Nick was as far from it as imaginable. Smart, successful, powerful, devious, rich. It was eye-opening to say that Louis had at one time been exactly her type. Nick was smart. He was successful, she supposed though not in a wall-street kind of way, and as a Grimm he _was_ powerful, but he was definitely blue-collar.

"Ah, Adalind! There you are," Lane's voice sounded from behind her, and she closed her eyes in resignation before spinning around. "Lane!" she faked a smile.

"I've got you another drink."

"Excellent," she said and snatched it from him. She was halfway through what tasted like a blueberry martini when Nick sidled beside her from somewhere.

"You might want to slow it down," Nick advised, watching her warily.

"I'm fine," Adalind said, flipping her head back and downing another swallow.

"I'm not carrying you home," he told her. Except he would carry her home and they both knew it.

"Nicholas! Glad you could join us!" Louis exclaimed, and Adalind tensed beside Nick. She wondered if Nick noticed anything off about Louis, besides being Wesen. "We're just getting ready to salute our guest of honor."

"Great," Nick said, then muttered an "excuse me" to look at his phone, which was buzzing in his pocket.

 _Oh, a homicide. Please let it be a homicide,_ she pleaded, but he glanced at the message and then put it away in his suit jacket, looking attentively at the guests assembling, and flashing a smile at Adalind when he noticed her watching.

"Berman! We need you up front here," and there she thought she saw something flicker in Nick's eyes, but the booze made her a bit fuzzy, and Louis made her anxious, and Nick was hard to read sometimes. Berman made his way to the front of the room, as did Rautbort, and the trio talked quietly amongst themselves for a few minutes before addressing the crowd with some general welcoming remarks.

"I'm so ready to go home," Adalind muttered into Nick's ear when he slipped an arm around her waist to guide her slowly to the front of the room. She felt a little steadier with him holding her, so she slung an arm around his and kept a firm hold on her drink with the other.

"Five more minutes, then we'll make an excuse."

"If we stay s _ix_ more minutes, you'll be able to declare it a crime scene," she replied, as they separated to allow Adalind to precede Nick through the tightly clustered throngs at the front of the room. Nick kept a hand at her back, gentle pressure guiding and supportive, coming to stand shoulder to shoulder a few feet from Berman and the rest of the name partners. She was glad to have Louis and Berman reminiscing about old times together and not directing their attention on her. Except, she realized, they hadn't actually gotten to the official toast yet, and then the official speech she would have to make. And _oh my god, why had she drank so much_?

Nick must have noticed the look on her face. "What's the matter?"

"I'm supposed to make a speech," she whispered, dismayed. "Can't you text Rosalee and have her call you with an "emergency"?

"And not be obvious about it? We're standing in the front row," he whispered back. She stiffened when she realized Louis was watching her and Nick while Berman went on and on in his introduction speech. She was suddenly hyperaware that Nick was absently tracing lazy circles on her lower back with his fingers. From the outside, she could see how they might appear to everyone as a happy couple, and in consideration of Louis' comments she wasn't sure if she wanted to seem so cozy with Nick. She wasn't sure what he wanted with him. Or her. But she worried he had asked about their son and she needed to get Nick alone and tell him about her conversation.

Dammit. She realized now she should have worked something out with Rosalee prior, a call-me-in-ten-minutes-with-an-emergency type plan, although Rosalee would have probably thought she was trying to escape attending her party with Nick.

"It'll be fine," Nick said trying to soothe her. "Just keep it short and sweet." And she had barely a moment to glance at him before Berman was saying her name and everyone was clapping and somehow she was at the front of the room facing the crowd.

 _Short and Sweet._ Right. She could do this. She felt like she was swaying. Was she swaying? Probably should have taken Nick's advice and said no to that last martini. She took a deep breath and started, thanking everybody for being there to support her, welcoming her back; Berman for offering her the position again, and she even managed to make a joke about it, and the laughter that echoed back bolstered her. She managed an appropriate if slightly rambling speech and stayed upright for the whole of it. She was congratulated and thanked by everyone as she tried to return to where she had seen Nick. She lost track of him again, and then found him over near the door, waiting patiently with a proud little smile on his face, and she felt more lightheaded from that than all the booze she had consumed.

"Perfect," he said, and she planted a quick peck on his lips and said "Let's go home."

%%%%%%

They spent the entirety of the car ride back to their loft with Nick on the phone with Hank and then Sean about a body that was apparently found downtown in an alley. Adalind tried to listen, but the cool glass against her face felt good after the buzzy warmth she was feeling from their evening out so she mostly tuned it out. The party had been a success she decided, despite some questionable moments.

She turned to Nick, reminded that she needed to tell him about Louis, but he was still on the phone so she leaned her head back against the glass.

She awoke when she felt him slide his arms under her legs and around her shoulders, and she couldn't help the smile of satisfaction that she had been right.

"You don't have to carry me," she said drowsily, "I can walk."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

She got fairly steadily to her feet and allowed Nick to slip his arm around her waist and guide her to the elevator. She wrapped her arms around him and looked at him from under hooded eyes, taking in his slightly amused expression and she tried to sober up a bit.

"Do you have to go in?" She asked, thinking of the homicide.

"No, Hank and Wu got it under control. I'll catch up with him in the morning."

She nodded, and Nick brushed his hand over her face, expression warm and serious. "You looked really beautiful tonight," he said and she felt her stomach flutter at his look.

He closed the elevator gate and hit the button to go up and when he turned back to her she nearly jerked him off his feet when she grabbed him and kissed him. "You looked freakin' hot," she said, and _yes_ it was possible she was still a little drunk, but Nick only widened his grin a little as his eyes darkened, before resuming the kiss. It was nice, she thought, to just have a quiet moment and make out with him here in the elevator, and then all thoughts fled when he backed her against the wall and slid his hands down her body. The elevator reached their floor and they broke apart after a few minutes, Nick raising the gate and Adalind still with her hand fisted around his shirt collar, leading him backwards out of the elevator, before Nick closed the distance again and once again their mouths were fused together. They bumped against the table at the entry where Nick fumbled to deposit his keys. She heard them miss and slide off onto the floor. She stumbled a little stepping out of her shoes, but their lips never broke contact. She managed to get Nick's suit jacket halfway off his shoulders before they knocked into the dining table.

"Oof," she said breaking off the kiss and trying to catch her breath.

"Sorry," he said, shrugging the rest of the way out of his jacket and dropping it on the floor. Adalind looked at him in anticipation, the sensation that he might take her right there on the table making her almost weak in her legs. He licked his lips, a smile playing on them as he looked at her with affection in his eyes. "You taste like blueberry," he said, sliding his hands up her legs and under the hem of her dress.

She reached for his shirt again, crumpled with a few more buttons open near the collar and said, "You're sexy," taking in the dark hair on his chest that peeked through.

"You're still a little drunk," he replied, but his hands slipped higher as she pulled him closer. She managed to loop her arms over around his neck, and tipped her head back to allow him access to her neck and chest which he obliged by gliding his mouth over the areas left exposed by her dress as he carefully laid her back. She realized with a start that he had at some point found the zipper and had unzipped it as the skin on her back made contact with the table top.

The stubble on his face scratched and tickled where he trailed his mouth across her cheeks, mouth, neck and chest and she squirmed impatiently, wanting more of him.

"I should really put you to bed," he said, pulling away, taking her with him as she refused to let go, and she slid off the table and then out of his grasp in order to step out of the dress. He watched it pool around her ankles and then allowed his eyes to undertake a slow languorous journey up to her face. By the time they reached her own, she was smirking slightly and fairly clear headed as she slowly removed her bra and let it drop too, and Nick took a step closer.

"I should definitely take you to bed."


	5. Chapter 5

_Oh my god,_ she thought, smiling blissfully into her pillow, a dull, familiar, and not at all unwelcome ache as she moved and stretched. That had been amazing. She smiled again and opened her eyes, focusing on the empty pillow next to her. Obviously Nick was already up. Maybe he was making her breakfast. He had done that a couple of times. Breakfast in bed. She closed her eyes and thought about last night, a contented sigh escaping.

She realized she didn't hear any noise coming from the kitchen or anywhere in the loft. Frowning she threw back the covers and stepped out, goose bumps forming, and she hurriedly found Nick's shirt from the night before on the floor and threw it on, cuffs flapping loosely around her wrists.

She padded out into the living areas, smirking at the clothes that made an incriminating trail around the loft, before making her way to the fridge for a glass of orange juice. She noticed a note scribbled on the dry-erase board as she was putting the carton back. _Went to get Kelly and breakfast; be back_. She smiled, thinking of Kelly, and took a sip, leaning against the counter. She supposed she should get everything cleaned up before he got back and wondered how long he had been up and about before she had woken. She sent him a text. _Morning_. _Where are you_?

 _Almost home_ came back a minute later, and she smiled and set her phone on the counter. She decided to use the bathroom first, and then started collecting their strewn clothing, and righting the objects that had fallen over or moved as they had drifted about the room. She heard the elevator clang as she grabbed Nick's rumpled suit jacket, and shook it out, before bending down to grab her dress and the rest of her clothing.

"I hope you got bagels," she announced turning to Nick and then froze when Trubel stepped off.

"Trubel."

"Adalind," Truble said. "Where's Nick?"

Adalind swallowed, suddenly acutely aware that she was standing in the loft wearing nothing but Nick's shirt, and holding her bra and underwear in her hands. She flushed when she saw Trubel notice it as well, and both looked away quickly, Truble muttering a quiet apology.

"Sorry. I, uh, I need to speak with Nick."

 _Of course you do,_ Adalind thought. _It's not like you came here to see me._

"He went out to get Kelly and breakfast." At Trubel's slightly inquisitive look she added, "He spent the night with Monroe and Rosalee. We had a thing—a-a party to go to," she said, not sure why she felt she had to explain.

"Oh," Trubel said, and fidgeted uncomfortably near the door.

"He just texted he'll be here soon," Adalind said, trying to hide her bra, although Trubel had already seen the whole sordid mess.

"Okay," Trubel said, and looked around the loft again. "You redecorated," she noted, indicating with her finger some of the changes.

"Yeah," Adalind agreed. "We decided to upgrade the place a little."

"It looked like a prison before."

"Yeah, it was a little depressing," Adalind agreed.

"Did you do all this?"

"I had some help."

"It looks nice," Trubel said. "Like somebody actually lives here."

"Thanks," Adalind replied, standing awkwardly. "You want some coffee?" she asked, and Trubel looked at her for a moment, and then nodded and moved away from the elevator door. Her eyes skated over Adalind, and she tugged at the shirttails of Nick's shirt with her free hand self-consciously.

"Why don't I fix some and you can get dressed," Trubel offered.

"That would be great," Adalind said, and pointed to the machine. "Coffee's in the cabinet above" she called as she turned and hurried to the bedroom.

%%%%%%

"So you and Nick are still living together?" Trubel said when Adalind rejoined her in the kitchen thankfully wearing underwear, pants and a shirt that wasn't Nick's.

"Yup. Surprised?" Adalind quipped, taking the cup that Trubel had set near her.

"A little," Trubel said, and Adalind mulled that answer as she sipped her coffee.

"Me too," Adalind admitted and Trubel looked at her in surprise. They both drank quietly, before Trubel said, "I'm sorry I missed Kelly's birthday."

"It's all right. Nick was worried about you, though. He hoped you were okay." Trubel looked up at this, and Adalind recalled that things had been kind of weird between Nick and Trubel after Trubel found out that Nick and Adalind had feelings for one another.

"I got him a little toy truck," Trubel said, and Adalind raised her brows in surprise. "Hope he likes it."

"I'm sure he will. He loves anything with wheels."

"I'll bring it up, later."

"Okay."

"How are things with Hadrian's Wall?"

"Complicated. Nick ever get used to the whole Eve thing?"

"He's accepted it," Adalind said after a minute. "He doesn't really talk about her much anymore."

"Look," Trubel said haltingly. "I appreciate that you never said anything to Nick about Juliette and what I-"

"I don't like keeping secrets from Nick," Adalind replied, and then recalled Louis, and realized she needed to talk with Nick as soon as possible. "You still need to tell him."

Trubel nodded, and they sipped some more in silence.

"Still haven't told him you love him?"

"Uh, no, it—I—we, uh—"

And was thankfully saved from whatever embarrassing excuse she had been about to offer Trubel by Nick and Kelly.

"Trubel?" Nick said when he saw who Adalind was seated with. He set Kelly down on his feet, and dropped the overnight bag by the entry table.

"Hey Nick," Trubel replied.

"Mama!" Kelly exclaimed smiling widely, the six teeth he now had on prominent display. He toddled as fast as he could to Adalind, his unsteady movements providing most of his momentum forward. Adalind caught Trubel's look of surprise.

"He's talking, now," Adalind said, she supposed unnecessarily, as that was clearly evident.

"And walking. Wow."

"The walking's more recent, as you can see he's still trying to get the hang of it—gotcha!" she said scooping up her son as he fell into her, and he squealed happily. She grinned, placing a kiss on his chubby cheek, and bouncing him lightly in her arms.

"Holy crap, Nick, he looks just like you."

"Ha! See?" Adalind said triumphantly, and Nick rolled his eyes. "So I hear," he said.

He looked between the two women inquisitively, noting the coffee mugs, and set a box on the counter between them.

"I got bagels," he said, and Adalind grinned. Of course he did. He leaned over the counter and placed a kiss on Adalind and turned to pour his own cup of coffee. "Rosalee said he did well last night."

"Of course he did. He loves his Aunt Rosalee and Uncle Mo-mo," she said, cooing at her son who smiled in agreement, and Nick rolled his eyes again.

"Mo-mo?" Trubel asked.

"Monroe," Nick clarified. He looked at Trubel. "It's good to see you. Everything okay?"

Trubel shook her head. "There's been some new activity. Meisner asked me to get in touch with you."

"What's going on?" Nick asked, and Trubel glanced at Adalind, "He didn't really say, just said he needed to see you as soon as possible. He asked me to give this to you," she pulled a cell phone out of her back pants pocket. "He'll call and arrange a meet."

Nick stared at the phone before taking it. "He didn't give you any idea what this is about."

"We haven't really spent a lot of time together lately, but I think there's been some new intel about one of the factions within the uprising," Trubel said, and Nick nodded.

"Have you eaten?" Nick asked, and Trubel shook her head, looking at the bagels, eyes darting around. "There's something else," she said, hesitantly.

 _There always is,_ Adalind thought. Nick waited for her to continue.

"I need a place to stay. Can I crash on your couch?"

"We've got a bed in the study we can fix up for you," Nick said, glancing at Adalind and she nodded, but Nick looked uncertain, as though he wasn't sure what to make of Trubel and this request.

"It's no problem," Adalind assured and Trubel flashed a brief smile at her before turning back to Nick.

"I need to stop by the station and check in," Nick told them, looking at Adalind who recalled the homicide he had been on the phone with Hank about last night.

"I've got some contracts to look over," Adalind said sighing, shifting Kelly to her other hip, "but I'll get Trubel settled in the study first."

"Contracts?" Trubel asked.

"Yeah, I went back to work at my old job. Berman and Rautbort and associates."

"I should be back in a few hours," Nick said, gathering his things. "Call me if you need anything."

%%%%%%%

She and Trubel were over halfway through the world's most awkward process of making up the bed together in the study when Adalind remembered she still needed to talk to Nick.

"Dammit," she muttered.

"What?"

"I forgot, I need to tell Nick something."

"You can call him," she pointed out.

"No," she sighed. "I'll wait until he gets back. You know where everything is?" she asked, surveying the room.

"Yeah. Thanks," Trubel said.

"Okay, well, I'll be in the dining room doing some work," and Trubel nodded. Adalind grabbed her notes, and the contracts and spread them out over the table. Kelly napped soundly in his crib and she was planning to use his downtime to start working up documents to present to Berman for the merger.

Or that had been the plan, until Trubel wrecked it.

"You're a lawyer, right?"

Adalind glanced up from her work and found Trubel descending the stairs, looking a little lost. And bored.

"Yup." Adalind said and went back to her notes, hoping Trubel would take the hint and leave her to it.

"And you worked there for how many years?"

"Five. I started working as an intern when I was in law school, and they offered me a job after I graduated. Made partner in three years," Adalind added proudly, not that Trubel would care.

"I never went to college," Trubel said, looking at the papers surrounding Adalind. Adalind tried to remember what she knew about Trubel. Adopted. Drifted from town to town, been on the move most of her entire life.

"I was first in my class when I graduated," Adalind told her. Trubel took a seat at the table and Adalind continued writing. "Most people find it boring, but I always found it really fascinating. You have to be a quick thinker, adept at logic and problem solving, and it's really fast-paced and intense. I mean one minute you think it's just acquisitions and mergers and the next you're outlining the expansion in a hostile takeover."

"Wow, you're right, I do find it boring."

Adalind gave her a dirty look. " _Anyway_ , I didn't realize I missed it so much until I went back."

"It must be hard, working and taking care of Kelly."

Adalind nodded. "Yeah, I do miss him terribly when I'm at work. Nick has been great, too, stepping up while I'm still figuring everything out. He goes to this great daycare, though, so, I mean, it's good."

Trubel was silent after that, and Adalind gave up on the conversation and returned to her work.

"Nick really loves Kelly."

"Of course he does."

"And he really loves you," Trubel continued sounding a little taken aback by this revelation. Adalind tried not to be offended, honestly there was a part of her that understood the disbelief. Trubel looked at Adalind. She looked away, unsure how to respond to Trubel's observation. "He takes good care of us," she said instead.

"No, he does. I didn't think I'd ever see him like content and happy again after Juliette, but he's settled down again and I don't want to see him get hurt."

"I'm not going to hurt him, Trubel. I'm not like I was before," Adalind said stiffly, and Trubel shook her head.

"That's not what I mean."

"Well what do you mean?" Adalind asked, mystified.

"Look, I uh," Trubel leaned forward, serious, and Adalind mimicked her, pushing her notes aside. "I think you guys might be in danger."

"Is this news?" Adalind couldn't help but quip, but Trubel's words unsettled her nonetheless. She glanced involuntarily towards where her son was taking a late morning nap in his room, and she was reminded of her conversation with Louis. "Does this have something to do with why Meisner wants to see Nick?" she asked.

"I think so. Adalind, there's some people who think the uprising are going to try to get to Nick, maybe through you…or the baby," and Adalind felt her heart seize in her chest.

She shook her head, "No," she said, stunned, and suddenly Louis' interest was forefront in her mind.

"They've used a similar M.O. to try to attack or turn some of the other Grimms."

"They're not getting my baby!" Adalind said, aware that she sounded slightly hysterical.

"We're not going to let anything happen to Kelly," Trubel said, and Adalind latched onto the "we."

"You and Meisner?" Meisner had helped her try to protect Diana.

"Hadrian's Wall. We need Nick in this fight, and we're not going to let anything happen to anyone he loves. We're not sure how they're going to come at Nick or who's involved. Meisner was checking into some leads."

Adalind felt her stomach curl. "I think I might know," she said and Trubel looked at her guardedly.

%%%%%%%

"Nick!" Trubel said and Adalind was glad to see him. Nick ignored Trubel and strode up to Adalind, pensive and intense—his Grimm face—she noted, and she knew from that that Meisner had gotten ahold of him and told him what Trubel had shared with her. She wondered what and how much Meisner had shared with Nick, if Trubel knew more or less than what Nick did.

"Adalind," he said, slightly out of breath, as though he had run all the way to see her. He didn't take threats to his family well; was fiercely protective of what he had and it wasn't hard to see why it had upset him.

"Nick, I have to tell you something," Adalind told him, and he shook his head, and brushed aside her comment. "Whatever it is can wait," he said. "Where's Kelly?"

"He's still sleeping. Nick—"

"I think maybe you should pack a bag for you both," Nick said, and Adalind frowned in alarm.

"Nick, I think you need to listen to what Adalind has to say," Trubel said, and Nick finally acknowledged her. He stared at her a long time before he said in a low voice, "You knew."

Adalind swallowed, looking between the two, wondering at the expression on Nick's face. Betrayal? Shock? Hurt? She didn't know what had been going on with Nick and Trubel but she didn't like that they might be at odds with one another.

Trubel shook her head. "I wasn't sure, Nick, we had heard rumors, but nothing concrete, but I think we may have a better idea of how they're going to do it. You need to hear what Adalind has to say," she said again and Nick looked back at Adalind.

"What is it?" he asked warily.

"Last night at the party, when I ran into Louis. You remember him?"

"The zauberbiest who had a thing for you," he said flatly. So he had noticed Louis.

"Yeah, we, uh, had a fling when I first started working at the firm," she explained, and Nick crossed his arms and clenched his jaw but said nothing. "Anyway, he said he had heard I had a baby, and he asked if it was yours," she saw Nick raise an eyebrow, but otherwise he remained expressionless. "And then he basically asked where my loyalties lied, with the uprising or with you."

She continued with the story, Nick utterly expressionless except for his eyes that grew darker with each passing moment. She couldn't help but recall his eyes last night bright with affection and tenderness, and dark with desire, not anger and she would wonder how her life could change so drastically in less than twenty-four hours, had it been anyone else's life but hers. She finished her story and Nick walked over to the counter, still silent. Trubel and Adalind exchanged a look and waited.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," Nick said darkly. "And there's no way in _hell_ that I'm going to allow them to use you or my son against me. You tell Meisner this ends now." He said to Trubel.

"We're not going to let anything happen to Kelly or Adalind," Trubel said. "That's really why I'm here," and Adalind raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Nick shook his head. "I knew it."

"I heard what might be going on and I told Meisner I needed to get back. We need to tell Meisner what Adalind knows," and Nick shook his head stubbornly.

"I don't want to put them any more at risk."

"Nick," Adalind said softly. "We need to tell him."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Have I lost everybody? Or is anyone still enjoying this? We're not even halfway yet...

%%%%%%

It had been nearly a year since Meisner had last stood in the loft. A lot had happened in that year, Adalind reflected, not the least of which was the change in relationship to the man who sat stiffly next to her at the table. She reached over and squeezed his knee, out of sight of Trubel, who leaned against the island, and Meisner who sat across from Nick, but he merely flicked stony eyes to her and then back at Meisner.

"We can use this," Meisner breathed, looking stunned and pleased when Adalind had finished reciting her story for the third time, and Nick's head tilted dangerously.

"We can use you," Meisner said to Adalind, "to find out more information about Louis and the uprising, what they have planned."

"I'm not going to betray Nick," Adalind retorted as Nick exploded. "Absolutely not!"

Meisner merely transferred his gaze from Adalind to Nick. "Surely you can see the opportunity here?" he asked.

"I don't give a fuck," Nick said venomously. "You are not risking _my_ family to get what you want."

"Nick," Adalind said, trying to calm him but he stood up suddenly, the chair creaking loudly behind him as it slid across the floor.

"Well, we would risk somebody else's family, except the uprising isn't interested in them. They're interested in yours." Adalind gave Meisner a look, and rolled her eyes when he shrugged nonplussed.

"Surely you can understand the opportunity here," Meisner said to her, and she debated on telling him she didn't give a fuck either. She was sick of Wesen infighting, and she wasn't convinced either whether the opportunity to grab some more intel was worth risking Kelly's life. She glanced up at Nick, looking as dark and dangerous as the storied Grimms were purported to be, as he paced agitatedly around the loft.

"We need to get her and Kelly someplace safe," Nick said, working out his own solution. "Someplace they can stay until we figure this out and eliminate the threat to them."

"How long is that going to take?" Adalind asked. Given what they had learned from everyone it didn't sound like that was going to be a weekend project.

"I don't know," Nick said, and Meisner glanced and Adalind and then Nick. "But it doesn't matter."

"Uh, it does matter. I have court next week," Adalind said, and Nick stared at her in amazement.

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, Nick I've been working on this merger all month!"

"So what? That's worth your life? Kelly's life?" He spat, and Adalind snapped her mouth shut and glared.

"Of course not, but we don't know what they're going to do, when it's going to happen, and where it's coming from. I can't stay in seclusion forever." She looked at Meisner who was watching her closely. "Maybe Meisner's right," she said, considering his suggestion. "This might be a better way of figuring all that out. We could use this," she ventured, glancing at Meisner. He transferred his gaze to Nick.

"I don't believe this! No. No way," Nick said.

She heard Kelly start to fuss in his room and she stood to go get him.

"You're going to have to find some other way," Nick said to Meisner and Meisner shook his head.

"There isn't one. They're interested in you. We're interested in them. Adalind is the natural go-between in this scenario."

"No, she's _not_."

She slipped into Kelly's room to find her son standing up in his crib, clenching the rail of his crib. His little face brightened when he saw her. "Mama," he said and she picked him and cradled him in her arms. Outside his room, his father railed against Meisner and Hadrian's Wall. She pressed a kiss against her son's head, cupping her hand over his ear to try to drown out the angry voices.

"Nick, I think Meisner's right," she heard Trubel say, and Nick rounded on her.

"You can't be serious!"

"I know you're worried about Adalind and Kelly—"she heard her say before Nick cut her off. She listened to them argue for a little bit longer, Meisner occasionally joining the fray, trying to be another voice of reason, before placing a kiss on Kelly's head again and rejoining them. Trubel had moved from the kitchen island closer to Nick, who was demonstrating the "us" versus "them" mentality he must be feeling, as he stood alone, opposite Meisner and Trubel.

"I'll do it," she said, but Nick and Trubel were still yelling at each other.

She looked at Meisner, who must have heard her as he was staring back at her, and said it again, louder. "I'll do it."

She moved to stand beside Meisner, and therefore where Nick could see her and said one more time, "Nick! I'll do it," she repeated once he looked at her. He stared at her, much with the same expression that he had Trubel when Trubel had confessed having a good idea what was going on that brought her to them.

"Adalind, you don't know what you're saying," Nick said, and she frowned at him, insulted.

"No, I have a pretty good idea," she replied, trying to keep her voice moderated. It wouldn't do to get him started again; he was only an instance away from exploding again, anyway. "You want me to be like a spy for both sides, right?"

"You won't be safe," Nick said, shaking his head.

"Please, I've done this a hundred times," she said, and stared pointedly at Nick. She had played him too, or tried to, several of those times.

"It's dangerous," he said again, eyes hardening. "You piss off the wrong person and you can pay for it with your life, or Kelly's life," and she swallowed, backing down a little. He wasn't wrong and there were more than just she or Nick to consider. Nick could handle himself, but Kelly…Kelly would be vulnerable. But what was the alternative?

"I know. I don't want anything to happen to Kelly," she said, trying a different tack. "And that's why I think we may need to consider this," she said looking at Meisner and Trubel, both who watched her and Nick quietly.

"No," Nick said firmly. "You're not risking _my_ son," he said again lowly, and Adalind fought a surge of anger.

Kelly began to fuss, perhaps sensing the turmoil in the room.

"Nick," she tried again, but he held up his hand to stop, and she finally lost her temper. "You think I don't care what happens to him? I'm doing this _because_ I care! If I'm involved, we have inside information! We can better protect him! Nick, this kind of stuff I can do in my sleep!"

"Who's going to protect you?" Nick exploded. "If you do this I'm not always going to be able to get to you. You're not a hexenbiest anymore! You're vulnerable, Adalind."

She reeled back, unable to argue the point, taken aback by her own feelings when Nick stated the obvious. No she wasn't a hexenbiest, and she didn't have her powers. She had never regretted that since she had voluntarily given them up before Kelly was born, and it was true that the reason they were even living together in the first place was because she _was_ vulnerable, and she had needed Nick's protection for her and their baby, but she resented the implication she might be helpless. It was one thing to think it yourself, another to have it thrown back at you.

Kelly began to cry, disturbed by his parents' behavior. Nick finally took notice of their son's response and made a concerted effort to calm down a bit, taking a deep breath, and Adalind used it as an opportunity to speak and be heard.

"I understand you're worried. I am, too. They're right Nick. I'm gonna do it."

And whatever tenuous grip on his temper he had managed to get a hold of fled as Nick exploded once more.

"No! Adalind! You're not—" but he cut off abruptly once more when Kelly began to cry in earnest, upset his parents were at odds with one another. Adalind tried to shush him, and Nick took another stab at getting his temper under control.

"I am not," Nick said, with a modicum of control as Adalind soothed their son, "going to risk losing anyone else I love," he said, and Adalind's heart did a flip.

"I know," she managed, "But Meisner and Trubel are right. This way we have more control. I can be an inside man—woman—instead of us having to wonder what's going on."

"They're going to use you, too, you know. They're going to be suspicious that you want to help them. Adalind, it's a _risk_."

"Then, I'll just have to convince them," she said after a moment.

%%%%%%%

Nick had been moody and short the rest of the night. Trubel had given Nick a wide berth, Adalind had tried to leave Trubel be, and Nick apparently didn't want anything to do with either of them, still irritated about the turn of events. It made for an interesting night in the loft.

Trubel had retired to the study a couple of hours ago, and Adalind still sat at the table, trying to work on her case files. Nick had alternated between the main floor of the warehouse where he tinkered with something on his car, and the bedroom where he was now. Adalind had watched him stalk by a few minutes ago and debated on giving up for the night.

A few minutes later she joined him in the bedroom, sliding the double doors shut, Nick looking up from where he was checking his gun. She heard the slide catch and snap into place and he set the safety and set it on the nightstand and he stood from the bed.

"I'm going to sleep on the couch tonight," he said, swiping a pillow from the bed.

"Nick, don't. Please," she caught his wrist and he paused, waiting.

"I'm not going to say I'm sorry for agreeing to do it, because I'm not."

"I know that," he said coolly.

"But I am sorry that it upsets you," she said, and she saw a muscle tic in his cheek. "You don't have to agree with it, but this is the best opportunity to get a read on what's going on."

"So you said," he replied, but he still hadn't moved from her hand.

"I need your support on this." She sighed and grasped his hand with her other one, capturing his wrist between hers and tugging him gently towards her. He resisted and she gave up and went to him.

"Nick," she breathed, pressing against him, wishing for the warmth he had shown last night, but he moved his jaw, still pensive, away from her. She wrapped her arms around him and had never felt so alone in his presence. Even when they had been enemies it had never felt this cold between them. They were always alive in each other's presence, the spark of enmity between them, then later the spark of something else.

"We haven't slept apart since we moved in here," she said, thinking back to when she had awkwardly asked him to spend the night with her to help abate her fears. She heard Nick sigh and felt his chin brush her hair as he moved it over her head.

"There's a first time for everything, I guess," he said, and broke away from her.

"Nick."

"No. Don't. Just don't." he slipped out the door and shut it behind him.

%%%%%%%

Adalind crept out into the loft, the sliding door only making one little creak as she slipped through. She tiptoed through the living areas, hesitating when she came to the back of the couch. It was past three in the morning and she hadn't heard any sound in the loft for a couple of hours, and she had listened to Nick restlessly move outside of the bedroom for a good hour before he must have calmed down and went to sleep.

She gave in to her inner demon and risked a peek over the couch, jumping when she met the wide open eyes of Nick's.

"You know this couch isn't really all that comfortable."

"Well, I offered you the bed," Adalind retorted trying to find her footing in the conversation but she was too relieved to have him speaking with her again.

"You're still awake," she observed.

"So are you."

"Yeah, well, I had a fight with the guy I live with. He stormed out of our room," she said. Nick said nothing, and Adalind wished she hadn't brought it up.

"Sounds like an asshole," Nick finally replied. Adalind's heart twisted.

"A little bit," she said and Nick looked at her, "I think he's just worried about me, though."

"He loves you," Nick said, and Adalind's heart started thumping erratically. "He's not always the most rational about the people he cares about."

"Yeah, well," Adalind said around a lump in her throat, "I don't suppose I can fault him for that." Nick looked at her again for a long moment and went back to staring at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry," he said, "For how I reacted. But I'm not sure if I can get behind this plan. This is a huge risk, Adalind, for you and our son. I just can't support something that might have you or him or both taken from me."

"I know. But I think it's riskier to not do it and let the uprising find some other way to come at us." Nick blew a sigh out his cheeks.

"We're never going to see eye to eye on this," he said, and Adalind nodded, disappointed.

"No, probably not," she agreed.

His eyes remained locked on the ceiling, and Adalind's remained locked on Nick's face. "It started with my parents," he said. "I mean, I thought they died, or at least one of them did, in a car accident. Then my Aunt Marie, and my mom, and then Juliette. Everything I ever loved has been taken from me. Aunt Marie, she warned me. Said I needed to give Juliette up, and I never did, and look how that turned out. My mom, though," he said after an awkward silence, "she told me not to do what she did; not to leave the people you love." Adalind drifted closer. "Not sure what I'd do if I lost you or Kelly. Go crazy, probably," he said, almost to himself.

"Nick," she said. "Come to bed," and he flicked his eyes back to her.

"You're going to have to be careful," he said. "Louis...This all didn't just fall in your lap by accident. I don't trust him or anything he says."

"Well, neither do I."

"I don't trust Meisner, either," Nick said, and this wasn't news. Nick had been highly suspicious of Meisner ever since he had met him. "You'll be unprotected when you're at work, so don't let your guard down."

"I know. This isn't my first foray into playing both sides, Nick. We both know I've done it before. Many times. I know how to be convincing." Nick looked at her a long moment and nodded.

"I know," he said softly, getting up from the couch and following her. "I just never personally had so much at stake if it fails."

%%%%%


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the weekend passed without incident. Trubel and Nick resumed their uneasy truce, walking on eggshells around one another, setting Adalind's teeth on edge. Trubel occupied herself with keeping her distance from both Adalind and Nick, although she appeared to bond with Kelly, spending a few moments throughout the day playing with him, much to his delight, and Nick busied himself with the homicide that had occurred on Friday. He was also preoccupied with developing a strategy to help safe-guard Adalind and Kelly as much as possible and though he was still distant, Adalind left him to it, accepting that it was his way of working through his anxiety.

She missed his easy touches, though, and with Trubel living with them again, they both seemed to revert a bit to the behavior they exhibited at times around those who knew their complicated history; companionable but not too familiar. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and lose herself for a few moments. Despite her remarks to the contrary, she was unnerved, too, about the impending deception she would be undertaking. She felt a weekend spent in Nick's arms would go a long way in calming her, but other than Sunday night when they were in bed, there hadn't really been any alone time.

She found him staring up at the ceiling when she finally came to bed, pulling his eyes away to watch her undress. He rolled on his side as though she was making a big production out of it, and she smiled a bit self-consciously at all the attention.

Well, she had wanted it, hadn't she? She finally struck a ridiculous pose, and said, "Like what you see?" Nick made a motion for her to turn around, and she completed a 360 degree turn, staring back at him expectantly.

"It's all right, I guess," he said, and she ripped the pillow out from under him and hit him with it. He smiled unrepentantly, and resumed his fascination with the ceiling, but Adalind caught him sneaking a few peeks as she finished with her nightly routine.

She flopped down right beside him on the bed, hair spilling over him as she narrowly missed crashing her head against his. " _What_ is so fascinating about our ceilings?" She asked, trying to see if she could tell what held the appeal. Nick looked over at her, and then paused to brush her hair out of his face so he could see her.

"Huh?"

"Our ceilings. What's so interesting about them that you're staring at them all the time lately?"

"Nothing, just thinking."

"About?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to cast any more pall over their weekend than what they had already had.

"You," Nick said after a moment.

"I didn't realize I occupied so much real estate in Nick Burkhardt's mind. Am I naked in these thoughts?" she teased, hoping to keep the conversation light.

"Usually," he replied.

She rolled on her side to face him with her head propped up. "And what am I doing naked in these thoughts?" she asked. Nick lifted his hand to brush down the side of her face and didn't answer right away, letting his fingers sift through her hair before dropping his hand beside him. "Vacuuming," he said.

She rolled her eyes. "I had no idea I was missing the chance to fulfill a secret fantasy of yours. I'll try to remember that next time I'm cleaning cheerios off the floor." Nick offered up the ghost of a smile and looked up again.

"You need to make him think we're together as mostly a business arrangement for you. Me thinking Kelly is my child benefits you by keeping you protected but you have no real romantic interest in me, and are looking for a way out if one presents itself," Nick said, and Adalind looked at him. _So much for keeping it light._ "If he thinks you're looking for a way out he might be more willing to dangle himself, and what the uprising is planning on doing, out there more."

She nodded with a sigh, getting back to business. "You know I used to actually look forward to this kind of stuff as a challenge, but gotta say, not looking forward to this at all. It's been nice to just be a mom, and domestic, you know, instead of manipulating someone, or being the one manipulated," she added, thinking of Sean, her mom, Eric, Viktor…the list was long.

"It's not too late to back out of it."

She glanced at Nick. "Yeah, it is. I don't want to live wondering where the next shot is coming from."

"Then you probably shouldn't be involved with me."

She gave him a look. "Too late for that," she said.

Nick smirked a little. "Too irresistible?" he said, trying for the levity of earlier.

"Hardly. I got knocked up and this is my punishment."

"That's your own fault," Nick said, but without the heat the observation deserved.

"Forced to live with the father of my baby, who turned out to be a really great guy. For a Grimm."

"You think I'm great. You like me?" he said, and Adalind flushed a little and rolled her eyes.

"No," she said. He grinned. "I don't!" she insisted.

"It's not good to lie, especially to those you like."

"God, living with you is impossible," Adalind said. "You know, you're really barely likeable."

"Oh, you liked me the other night," he said in sultry voice, tugging the collar of her shirt down with a finger and she smacked his hand.

"Well, you do have your uses, I suppose," Adalind replied primly.

"Glad to be of service," Nick said dryly, and she smiled. He grinned back slightly, rolling on his side to stare into her eyes more closely. She wanted him to touch her, to make her ache with want like he did Friday night, but she stayed on her side of the bed, watching him and waiting.

"It'll be okay, Nick," Adalind said, and his face dimmed.

"You'll have to convince me of that," he replied darkly, rolling onto his back again.

"I might be willing to do that," she said, leaning over him, tugging on one of the drawstrings of his boxers and he turned his head back to her, pupils large in the darkness. "But you have to promise me something first."

"What's that?"

"You need to trust me. I can do this Nick. I used to pretty good at it, you know," she said tugging at the other drawstring.

"I know. That doesn't exactly help me sleep better at night."

"What do you mean?"

"Hank, Renard…me."

"I don't plan on sleeping with Louis, Nick, if that's what you're worried about."

"I never even—what? That's on the table?" Nick asked, alarmed.

Whoops. Apparently that _wasn't_ what he was referring to. "No," she hurried to assure. "He creeps me the hell out."

"I'm not sure I can handle this," Nick muttered.

"I promise, yours is the only body I want naked next to mine."

"Oh, god-Adalind!" Nick closed his eyes. "Not what I want to be thinking right now."

"Your naked body? Trust me, there are worse things to imagine." Adalind replied looking him over lasciviously.

"No, _your_ naked body with…some other guy. You know what? Can we just change the subject?"

"You brought it up," she said, and Nick glared at her.

She tugged affectionately at a dark brown lock of hair, and he winced. She bent over him and pressed a kiss against his mouth, and felt him respond. She sighed into his mouth, enjoying the feel of his hands on her ribs, at the back of her neck.

"You have nothing to worry about. You'll be pleased to know you've ruined me for other men," she said.

"Good," he replied quietly, barest hint of a smile, enfolding her in his arms, pressing his weight against her.

%%%%%%%

The next morning saw most of the occupants in the loft in making a concerted effort to be in much better humor. Nick was already dressed for work in grey jeans and coordinating sweater with a teal T-shirt underneath. He bustled about in the kitchen, fixing breakfast for him and Kelly, who was seated in his high chair supervising, when Adalind came out of the bedroom also already dressed for a change. Maybe she would get the hang of this working mom thing, yet, she thought.

"Morning," Nick said, looking up from where he was trying to convince Kelly to sample the pears he placed before him. Kelly turned his head too, and smiled in greeting at his mother, and she changed course to drop a kiss on his head, and made a decision to do the same for his father, except she lingered to long and Nick moved his head enough where it fell on their lips. He brought a hand up to her cheek and kissed her soundly before releasing her.

"Morning," she replied, thinking of an hour well spent with him last night.

"Sleep well?" Nick asked, and Adalind thought he knew damn well that she had. He had been uncommonly thorough last night, perhaps trying to make up for his reaction. Now who was fishing for compliments?

"I guess," she said noncommittally, trying to hide the smile on her face with her coffee cup. "You?"

Two could play this game.

"Yeah, I suppose," but he couldn't quite hide the small smile that appeared, either.

"Ugh. Gross. You guys are worse than two moony teenagers," Trubel said when she saw them, appearing from the study. She was the only not dressed, wearing some pajama pants and a shirt from Nick she had borrowed or appropriated from Nick, Adalind wasn't sure. He lost more clothing to the women living with him than he probably he realized.

"Well since this is our home, I think we can be as moony as we want to be," Nick retorted, wrapping an arm around Adalind's neck and planting a kiss on her head. She wondered if he was still irritated with Trubel and her perceived involvement in this scheme by him.

"Seriously. Get a room."

"Seriously? We got a room, it's called the _whole_ loft."

"Nick," Adalind said and Nick just shook his head, but he turned his attention back to Kelly. "What do you plan on doing today," she asked Trubel.

"I've got some stuff to check out."

"Stuff?" he piped up, and Adalind shot him a warning look, but he missed it since he never looked up from what he was doing. Adalind glanced at Trubel with a look of apology and Trubel shook her head slightly in response.

"They want me to look into some of this faction that Louis may be a part of. Now that we have a name, I can start digging into it a bit more."

"Ugh, that means I've got to start my end of this deception, doesn't it," Adalind said, and sighed inwardly. Well, there went all the goodwill in the room. Nick continued to ignore them mostly, although Adalind thought she detected a tightening of his jaw. "Well, I guess I'll be chatting up Louis today," she said unenthusiastically, "and presenting the Abermeier/Schmidt contracts to their board of directors."

"Sounds exciting," Trubel said sarcastically.

"And I guess I'll just be doing my usual, catching bad guys," Nick said taking away the bowl once Kelly had finished. He dropped it in the sink and took a last sip of his coffee. "Be careful," he added to Adalind, pausing to give her another kiss before depositing his mug in the sink. "I'll see you both tonight."

%%%%%%%

"Whoa," Rosalee said when she saw Adalind. "What happened to you?"

"I've been up all night preparing a case and cleaning up baby barf."

"Is Kelly okay?"

"He's got a stomach virus, and his dad was on a case. He just got home from work as I was leaving."

Adalind had spent the last five weeks ingratiating herself with Louis, juggling her caseload, and caring for Kelly, who seemed to pick up every bug that went around in his daycare. This was the third time he had been sick since he started, the first two minor ailments, but this time he must have picked up a stomach bug. Nick had been called out late last night to a homicide, and he had spent the entire night securing the scene and investigating. He had not been pleased to finally get home to find out he had to care for his sick son, but she could make the statement about his demeanor in general ever since she had signed on to help H.W. find out information from Louis. Adalind couldn't afford to take any time off, and Trubel was nowhere to be found so she had kissed Nick goodbye with a look of apology and headed to work.

She was spending her lunch today with Rosalee, having needed the break from Louis' cloying behavior and Nick's simmering resentment, among other things.

Rosalee waved Adalind in, and she entered the spice shop gratefully. "Let me fix you something,"

Rosalee offered, and Adalind said, "If it will magically remove the bags under my eyes and the scent of baby puke from following me everywhere, I'll take it."

"It should help you feel less tired," Rosalee said.

"Good enough."

Adalind took a seat at the counter and watched Rosalee prepare her tea. Monroe appeared from the basement with several boxes and said hello.

"How's Nick?"

"Probably wishing he was sleeping," she said, but she didn't have much sympathy for him She had wished for the same thing all night long.

Monroe looked at her questioningly.

"Kelly has some sort of stomach virus. He's been up most of the night barfing."

"Ew," Monroe said.

"Nick was up all night with a homicide and he took over when I had to leave for work."

"How are you doing?" Rosalee asked.

Adalind sighed. Where to begin. "Where to begin?" she said out loud. "Work is crazy, and I mean, that's before you even factor this whole thing with Louis in. I come home and I work some more. I have no time with Kelly, because every waking moment it seems like I'm always playing catchup on something. I barely see Nick anymore, unless we're coming and going. I mean ten minutes in the morning, maybe fifteen minutes at night. And then there is the whole deception thing with Louis and that's been hard, too.

"I didn't think being a double agent would be so hard. You know, I mean the last time I played both sides I didn't really feel like it was so exhausting."

"Is that because you had no soul?" Monroe asked.

Adalind and Rosalee gave him a dirty look.

"Ha," Adalind replied. "No. Well, maybe," she amended. Last time she had played both sides she didn't care about anyone on either side.

"And I never realized how disruptive Nick's work is," Adalind remarked after moment.

"The cases?"

"The cases. The Grimm stuff. It pervades everything, although I guess he can't really help it. I mean, I guess I should have realized it, but before I was just taking care of Kelly, and it was kind of nice to have it to break up the monotony, but Trubel's staying with us again, and between stepping around her—"

"Stepping around?" she asked, and Adalind groaned.

"It's complicated."

"Are you and Trubel not getting along?"

"Not exactly. I mean, we were never buddies or anything, and we get along okay, but it's very apparent we're all trying to be nice to each other for Nick's sake, which is funny, since I don't think Trubel and Nick are talking much unless it's Wesen/Grimm stuff, and I know that's because of me."

"Why you?"

"I, uh, Trubel knows how I feel about Nick and I'm not sure she approves."

"How you feel about Nick?"

"Yeah, you know…that _I'minlovewithhimabitmaybe"_

"I'm sorry?"

Adalind sighed and glared at Rosalee. "That I'm in love with him," she said louder.

Rosalee smiled. "I knew it."

"Yes, well, so does Trubel."

"Does Nick?"

Adalind ran her fingers over the edge of the counter. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Rosalee said.

"Probably."

"Probably?"

"Yes, I think he knows it," Adalind replied.

"You think?"

"I mean I may have said the words "love" around him."

"'Around him'? Did you actually say the words "I love you" to Nick?"

"I mean, those exact words?"

"Argh, Adalind!"

"I mean, not those exact words, but I may have told him I fell in love with my baby's father, I mean, it's practically the same thing!"

"It is not practically the same."

"Well, it's close. And Nick seemed to understand what I meant."

"I'm beginning to think you two deserve each other."

Rosalee took a seat across from Adalind, two mugs of tea between them. They listened to Monroe stock shelves.

"You told me about the threat with Louis and uprising thing, but you never told me about the party? How did it go?"

"It was okay, I mean, Nick was a big hit. Everybody seemed to love him."

"Nick said everyone thought you two were married," Monroe cut in, overhearing.

"Ugh, yes. I don't know why everybody always thinks that. I think they finally realize we're just living together and raising a baby. He told you about the party?" Adalind asked him.

"Yeah," Monroe said. "Why?"

Adalind wondered what else he had said to Monroe. "Anyway we had a good time," she finished, thinking of the evening spent after the party.

"Mmm-hmm," Rosalee said with a knowing look at Adalind's face. "See, I knew it would be good for you."

"Hey, Nick and Juliette were engaged?" Adalind asked. "I never knew that."

"No, I don't think they were," Rosalee said. "Why do you say that?"

"Because he said the first time he ever saw me he was coming out of a jewelry store. I mean, the implication was he was picking up a ring."

"No I don't think they were ever officially engaged." Monroe cut in, and both women turned to look at him.

"I mean, Nick asked her, but she told him no," Monroe added. "He had just found out all that stuff about him being a Grimm, so he put off asking her, and then it just kept piling on, and she thought he was keeping stuff from her, so when he finally did get around to asking…she turned him down. She wanted to wait, and then it just…they never…well, you know, it just never worked out for them."

"Wow," Rosalee said, and Adalind nodded. _Turned him down?_ She heard the clock chime in the store and she glanced at her watch.

"Ugh. I have to get back."

"We'll do it again soon," Rosalee promised.

"Okay," she gave Rosalee a quick hug and waved. "Bye Monroe!"

%%%%%%%

She was still pondering in what dimension that it would be acceptable to turn down a marriage proposal from Nick Burkhardt when she returned to work.

Not that _she_ ever expected one from Nick. If they lasted together the seventeen years it would take until Kelly reached adulthood she would be happy. She highly doubted they would ever be Mr. and Mrs. Burkhardt, not that she wanted that, per se…it's just…

What? Was she really going to have some _where are we going_ conversation to the father of the baby she tricked into having sex with her and then practically begged to help raise it. He was doing more than enough.

Anyway, that he had asked and Juliette had said no, it was just…surprising, that was all.

"Adalind!" and Adalind was pulled from her musings on matrimony by the sound of Louis' voice. Ugh. She plastered on a smile and turned.

"Louis," she said coyly.

"I hope you didn't have to spend your lunch answering to the whims of your Grimm," he said. Over the course of the last few weeks, Adalind had carefully dropped tidbits of information that would suggest that in exchange for protection from Nick for her and her child, that she was basically, well, at Nick's beck and call. She had told Louis he had been heartbroken when his girlfriend had been changed into a hexenbiest (true) and that after a while he had basically needed a warm body to get him through the cold nights (he hadn't ever refused her, she supposed), and she felt compelled to oblige him after everything he did to keep Kelly safe, but she really couldn't stand him (totally a lie). As long as the Grimm was willing to provide protection for her and her child, she was willing to offer him comfort and companionship.

Nick had scoffed, a little too loudly, she thought, at her suggestion as being farfetched, but so far Louis seemed to be buying it. And honestly she had offered herself up for less.

Which wasn't really anything to be proud of.

"No, just needed some air," she said.

"I have a proposition for you," he said. "A way out of your predicament."


	8. Chapter 8

"Wow, this is where the magic happens, huh?"

"Apparently," Nick said not paying it any attention. "Stay close," he cautioned.

"I'll be fine," she said, "You forget these are my people."

She and Nick were at the Office of Hadrian's Wall—not found in any phonebook—to loop Meisner in on what Louis was planning. It was a vast underground, prison-like complex, and they were currently walking through a long corridor with steel doors dotting along every few feet on either side.

Nick looked at her. "Well they used to be," she amended, and then jumped when what sounded like a Lowen screeched. Nick raised his eyebrow. "Still, I think it might kind of romantic maybe if we, you know, hold hands," she replied as she quickened her pace to link arms with him. He gave her a look.

"It's just like a walk through the zoo, right?" she said, smiling brightly, and Nick shook his head, but he allowed her to hold onto his arm as they walked through the tunnels. "You ever gone through all of this?" Adalind asked and Nick shook his head again.

"No, they haven't exactly given me a tour of the facility. Maybe because I haven't officially signed up." They reached a heavy gauge metal door where Nick loosened his arm from her grasp. To the left of the door stood Eve, and Adalind lingered just behind Nick, unsure as always what her reception would be with the other woman in light of their history.

"Tell Meisner we need to see him," Nick said briskly, and Eve eyed him for a moment before looking at Adalind. She tilted her head in that weird manner of acknowledgment she had and indicated with another tilt they should follow.

She noticed Nick was more alert now; standing taller as he followed Eve through a maze of passages before they arrived at what must be the nucleus of the operation, and she picked out Meisner standing on the other side of the room talking with another associate. He looked up when Eve entered, and followed that irritating head snap of indication to lay his eyes on Nick and Adalind. Adalind felt a surge of emotion when she saw him, recalling all he had done for her to protect Diana.

"We have some new information," Nick said without preamble.

"Let's talk."

%%%%%

 _"You think it will be that easy?"_

 _"Why yes, we'll eliminate two significant threats to our mission. You'll be free to leave him and bring the child with you. He'll have no interest in continuing a relationship with you."_

Adalind had turned away from him, trying to hide her emotions. She recollected on her conversation with Louis as they prepared to discuss the situation with Meisner.

Yes, why would he? They were talking about infecting Eve with a toxin that would suppress or eliminate her powers. Azithrotoxin. Adalind had never heard of it, but Eve without her hexenbiest powers left only Juliette. He _had_ loved Juliette and she had taken that away from him when she stripped him of his Grimm powers and forced him to extreme measures to get them back. She had nobody to blame but herself, and she heard the echo of her mother's slap, her words when she had committed the grave error of losing her powers to Nick the first time. _Stupid girl._ Her eyes burned and she willed the tears not to fall. She couldn't let Louis see. She wasn't supposed to be so attached to Nick. Theirs was a business arrangement

She should have _never_ gotten attached to him, she remembered thinking. She glanced at him now, his face blank and distant. He had ignored all occupants in the room except Meisner.

Why did she always have to be everybody's second best? Sean, her mother, Eric... She was never good enough. She hadn't deserved the friendship and compassion everyone had given her, she knew that. But she genuinely was touched by it, that after everything they would rally around her, that Nick would rally around to support her and she had been moved that people could feel and act this way without ulterior motives. So she had tried to live her life right from that point forward. And it hadn't actually been that hard to give up her powers the second time, but then again, she hadn't known how long she would be without them, that she would wind up not wanting them back, and had it worked with Juliette then she wouldn't be in the predicament she was now: in love with a man who had made do with what he had. She didn't fault Nick for it; it was just who he was. But when Juliette had refused to take the potion, what choice did he have? They had been thrown together under extreme circumstances and both had been left reeling and grasping for a handhold with the changes in their life.

They might coexist, but if he got Juliette back that's all they would be, partners in raising a child, and her lips twisted bitterly that that had been all she had wanted and expected from him and she then she had gotten greedy and wanted more. It always blew up in her face.

She would forever be human now, a nothing and nobody in this special world. Aware of the existence of Wesen and those who fought or lived amongst them, but belonging to neither side. She was disposable to Louis' world. Had no fight in what he was doing, and he knew it. Probably planned to kill her as soon as he was alone and done with her. That she was Kelly's mom meant nothing; she already had a child that someone was raising without her. And she didn't really belong in Nick's world, either. She wasn't a police officer trying to fight a war on the street, or a Grimm, and even really one of the scoobies that helped him. She was the mother to his child, and perhaps because he had lost his he tried to protect his son from feeling the pain of that, but she too could be replaced. Rosalee or... _Juliette_ would step up because it was the right thing to do.

 _"He's not going to just give up his son."_

 _"No, but he's not going to risk losing him either. You'll be protected here, from the Grimm."_

They were planning to take Nick's child away from him. She couldn't imagine the pain Nick would feel if he found his son gone. He would be shocked, he would be hurt, and he would be relentless.

 _"You'll be free my dear," Louis said, "to take up the cause of your brethren."_

%%%%%%%%

"So the toxin will take out Eve, and then he'll take the child?"

"He thinks if he can get to Kelly he can control you," Adalind said.

"A not unreasonable assumption," Meisner said and Nick frowned. "How do you factor into it?" Meisner asked Adalind.

"I'm supposed to administer the toxin."

Nick and Meisner exchanged looks. "I don't like this," Nick said, and Adalind nearly snorted. _What else was new?_

"How does he expect you to do that?"

"Not sure. I guess I'm supposed to figure that out. He didn't really seem to think my suggestion of asking her to hold her arm out, I've got something for you was a good one, though," Adalind said, and tried to avoid the shiver that went through her when Eve swiveled her head and stared at her. She was still creepy.

"What happens to you when you administer the toxin?" Meisner asked.

" _If_ I deliver the toxin then I'll go with him and Kelly...to the dark side, I guess."

"He's offering you a place in the uprising? What possible use could you have for him there?"

"None," Adalind said. "I think he's planning on killing me eventually anyway. It will just happen a lot quicker when he realizes I'm not going to, nor do I have any interest in regaining my powers," she said and she tried to ignore the subtle sharpening of Eve's gaze.

"If he hasn't already," Meisner said, and Adalind nodded. "Obviously he's aware of yours and Eve's relationship," he said to Nick and Adalind raised her eyebrows.

"I don't think it's a big secret." Nick said. "Everyone knows she died and that we were together a long time."

"Obviously they're expecting you to be more sentimental about it," and Nick shifted in his seat. Meisner looked at Adalind again. "Tell me more about the toxin they're planning to use?"

"I've never heard of it. I'm not sure if what they're planning to use will strip her powers permanently of just long enough for them to achieve their goal, I'm guessing the latter though. To completely rid a Wesen on their other-worldly nature, requires some serious mojo, and I'm not sure if that's what they would want anyway. I'm not sure how they expect for me to have the opportunity to meet with Eve long enough to do anything with it. I mean, it's not like we hang out or go to the mall on Friday nights. And any sighting of her...I mean, she's like a ghost," Adalind said really wanting to tell said ghost to take a picture already and stop staring at her.

"How do you think they plan on drawing her out?" Nick asked Meisner, and Adalind realized he hadn't said much to her directly since they had met up with Meisner...and Eve before.

"Your son," and Adalind pulled her thoughts away from Nick and back to what Meisner was saying. Nick shifted jerkily.

"They will attempt a threat on your child, it won't be the real one, just enough to grab your attention, and draw Eve out. Clearly they're aware that you have worked together from time to time, and maybe they think that's because of your past relationship. At any rate, they clearly expect Eve to help defend what's yours; perhaps with the mother of your child they feel that Eve won't be as guarded, and therefore more easily to take advantage of."

"Uhhh...do they know the history between Eve and said mother of child," Adalind interjected, and she shouldn't have said anything because Eve was looking at her once more.

"Regardless," Meisner said, "once Eve is out of the picture they will take both the child and Adalind away, and then the real threat will begin."

Meisner looked at Nick closely. "What are you willing to risk to protect your child?"

"Nobody is taking my baby from me," Adalind spit out, and she wanted to scream at Eve for the dead look in her eyes.

"They're not getting their hands on Kelly," Nick shot back. "Over my dead body."

"That's their fervent wish. Another Grimm threat eliminated. One with your skills would be a blow to our cause. You can't allow their plans to cloud your judgment. They know this will set you reeling, your devotion to the child is exactly what they're counting on.

"Likewise we can't allow them to succeed in their plan with Eve," and Eve transferred her gaze to Meisner. It was like Adalind was released from a tractor beam. "To lose such a highly trained and efficient weapon would be a significant setback in our fight against the Wesen uprising."

 _"What did you do to her?"_ Adalind wanted to ask. _"Why are they so interested?"_ She had heard from Nick, and then Monroe and Rosalee that Eve now possessed incredible powers. Apparently Hadrian's Wall had somehow harnessed those powers. She had wondered if it was some sort of spell, but apparently Meisner had earned Eve's loyalty by a complete mental, physical, and emotional breakdown and then building her back up again.

"We must not allow Adalind to succeed, of course, but we can't afford to have her attempt on Eve looking anything less than legit, for the safety of your child."

"What are you suggesting?" Nick asked.

%%%%%

"Soooo..." Adalind began. "How are you wanting to do this?" She was standing in a small, interrogation-like room, Eve standing with her arms crossed over her chest, patiently waiting.

"What method did you employ in your previous endeavors?"

Okay, that statement sounded like something someone would ask in a job interview or something. _Please tell me the best example of when you handled adversity and how did you do it?_ She frowned in confusion at Eve.

"You stabbed Nick with a toxin. He was hospitalized."

"You remember that."

"I have retained all my memories," Eve said.

"Right."

Yes, she had stabbed Nick, in the arm, but that was only because he used said arm to block her attempt at injecting his Aunt Marie with it. Still, she couldn't help but be aware that Nick was listening on the other side of the glass paneled wall, and that she didn't appreciate having him reminded of her...less endearing nature from years past. Not that he wasn't aware, but if they could stay buried, she felt that would be beneficial to their current relationship. She also couldn't help but be aware that unearthing them might be exactly was Eve was trying to do. She narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, well, truth is that was just dumb luck," she said. _Or dumb Nick._

"You infected me with a cat scratch," Eve offered, and at one time Adalind had felt regret for what she had done and all that it had caused, but she was having a hard time summoning that same emotion now.

"Yes, well, the difference there was I still had my powers then. It makes it a little easier."

"Yes, you're no longer protected by those," and Adalind didn't like her choice of word there. _Protected._

 _"_ No," Adalind agreed, but without the confidence she would have liked.

"We'll have to accommodate for the fact that as a human you will no longer have the strength or speed needed to make a serious impact. Therefore, surprise and the seemingly dumb luck as you called it will have to suffice."

She made a motion for Adalind to prepare to lunge at her, and Adalind raised the arm holding a pseudo-syringe at the ready. She wasn't sure about this idea, but Meisner and even Nick had reluctantly agreed that they needed to decide how they were going to sell Adalind administering the toxin without administering it, and that would require some practical work on the matter. She had been bolstered by Meisner's apparent confidence, but now she was starting to share in Nick's misgivings.

"Proceed," Eve said, and Adalind glanced warily at Eve, before lunging half-heartedly in an attack. She was promptly set on her butt within milliseconds.

 _Owww..._ she thought, getting slowly to her feet, eyeing Eve.

"Again," Eve said without emotion, and Adalind eyed her with even more caution. Eve began to circle towards her, and out of instinct Adalind counteracted her moves. When Eve lunged, Adalind just managed to dance out of her reach, swiping again at Eve with the syringe before once again she was down on the ground. She was certain a bruise was already forming on her hip, and she blew her hair out of her face and glared up at Eve.

"You're not very well practiced," Eve observed and Adalind wrestled to her feet.

She lunged quickly at Eve again, fueled by the slightly supercilious expression on Eve's face, and was easily blocked when Eve parried and then completed a spin kick that caught Adalind in the stomach. She smacked the back of her head against the floor and saw stars.

She laid there stunned for a moment and slowly sat up, Eve patiently waiting for her next volley.

"Careful, Eve," she heard Meisner say. "We can't tip our hand to what we're doing by having her sporting black and blue marks all over."

She thought she heard Nick's voice say, "this is ridiculous, she can't do this."

She wrenched herself to her feet, and picked up the syringe from where she had dropped it. Eve politely followed her movements and this time Adalind began to circle around her, Eve reciprocating with a move of her own. She had, like any single young female living in the city should, studied a little bit of self-defense, but as a single young female she had relied more on her powers and abilities as a hexenbiest to defend her than any physical training. They had protected more and far longer than any martial arts ever could have, but she did like to kick box for exercise and she presented a pretty good kicking move herself, one that actually forced Eve a step back, and Adalind thought she saw Eve's eyes narrow slightly as Adalind quickly spun her arm around to catch Eve with the syringe point. Eve countered quickly and once again blocked the assault.

But Adalind was counting on her doing so and quickly switched gears to spin in the other direction, catching Eve off guard slightly and eliciting a more defensive move than anything she had displayed thus far. Adalind kept coming, tired of that never-ending scientific study that Eve seemed to regard her with.

She managed a fairly quick succession of defensive moves, some of what she had learned long ago coming back before she was suddenly suspended in the air. She jerked—or tried to, but her body was held frozen. She was distantly aware of Meisner and Nick, both yelling something she couldn't understand but she was suddenly released, collapsing on the floor in a heap.

Nick reached for her, and she shoved him away in frustration. Eve stepped back bored, looking as though the outcome was just as she expected, and while her head tilted away, Adalind lunged for her. She managed to evade Nick's arm and used the momentum to get a shot off and hit home, plunging the needle into Eve's forearm before Nick wrested her around again.

"Adalind! Enough!" He shouted.

"Look at that," Adalind panted. "Still got it."

%%%%%


	9. Chapter 9

The ride home was, needless to say, filled mostly with silence. That suited Adalind fine, as she was starting to throb from various bruises and she was irritated with Nick, who seemed to be irritated with _her_ , and that only made her more annoyed.

Kelly dozed in the car seat behind them, tired out from a few hours spent with Rosalee and Monroe, unaffected by his parents' turmoil. They rode in the elevator in more thick silence, broken only by the sound of Nick punching in the code and throwing the gate up and down. She stalked into the apartment ahead of him, once he put the gate up, and she heard a quiet sigh.

Not that she cared.

"I'm going to put Kelly to bed," Nick announced, and Adalind nodded.

"I'm going to take a bath," she replied, gathering her clothes from the bedroom and a towel. "Do you need to use it before I go in there?"

Nick gestured theatrically to it. "All yours." He picked up Kelly, still ensconced in his car seat and disappeared into their son's bedroom.

Adalind locked herself into the bathroom, turned on the water, and then took a moment to regard herself in the mirror.

She looked horrible. Eve had managed not to put any bruises on any part of her body that would be uncovered, but she had a welt forming on one thigh, and the rising purple of several bruises on her backside and leg. She touched the back of her head where it had made impact with the floor and felt a goose egg the size of a boulder. Her hair was frizzy with sweat, and worst of all was the expression of defeat that looked back at her.

She would be slow-moving tomorrow, she knew, judging by the aches and pains and twinges of discomfort she felt now. She looked down at herself as she stripped off her clothing and once again thought how horribly useless she was as only just human. She wondered how Hank and Wu dealt with it, but even they had training and skills that made them more capable than the average citizen.

She finished undressing and stepped into the tub, the water too hot, but she cringed and slid further in. She couldn't help thinking of her thoughts earlier. Average. That was all she was now, and average wasn't going to help her in the world she was living in. Not against Eve. Not against the Wesen uprising. Not with Nick. She had felt vulnerable and exposed against Eve, and she suspected that was exactly what Eve was trying to tell her she was: vulnerable and exposed.

Her eyes burned suddenly and she tried to blink it away.

Why had he sided with _her?_

No matter what he said he was still deeply affected by Eve's presence. Tonight had shown that. She bent her head to look at a bruise on her knee and felt a tear slip down her face. She could see how Eve was such a formidable foe to the uprising, how with Nick and Trubel and the others fighting there was a chance that they could overtake the Wesen. If she failed Louis to deliver on taking out Eve as a threat, her son's life was in danger, if she prevailed her heart was in danger of losing Nick to Juliette.

More hot tears gathered and she splashed some water on her face. She had no right to Nick anyway. They were only together now because Adalind had been instrumental in tearing Nick and Juliette apart.

She started when she heard Nick rap softly on the bathroom door.

"Adalind? Can I come in?"

She shook her head furiously before remembering he couldn't see it. She didn't want him to see her this way. Didn't want his pity or concern. He tried the door, and Adalind was thankful she had locked it.

"I'll be out in just a few minutes," she managed to get out, and it sounded like a reasonable facsimile of her normal voice, but still Nick's shadow lingered by the door for a few moments. She heard him sigh.

"Okay," he said, and she waited for his shadow to move away from the door. "Are you okay?"

She bit her lip. No, she was not fucking okay, but she managed another normal sounding, "Fine," and added, "just tired," and hoped that would be enough.

"I'm going to wait up in the study for Trubel. I'll come to bed in a little bit."

"Okay," she said, and she waited for him to move away from the door. A few seconds later she heard him move away and she relaxed again, turning on the water to add more warmth to the tub and to muffle the sound of her crying.

%%%%%%%

She didn't know what time Nick came to bed, but he was up and gone by the time she stumbled from the bedroom in the morning, moving slowly where her muscles had stiffened up from the night before. She found a note from him, w _ent into work early,_ as if she honestly couldn't have figured that out herself, but she decided to cut him a little bit of slack when she found a box of bagels underneath the note. Trubel was also nowhere to be found, and Adalind wondered why she had bothered asking for a place to crash if she was never there anyway. She supposed she had only asked to stay with them because she had been worried about what was coming at Nick, and now that they had an idea perhaps she felt Nick had a handle on it, or it didn't require top priority anymore. That and she clearly didn't enjoy being around "two moony teenagers," as she had called them, but she only had to wait a few weeks for that to go away. She hadn't felt very moony around Nick in a few weeks, and obviously neither had he.

She drank her coffee, and then got Kelly up and going. Dropping him off at daycare now was no longer the nerve-wracking, guilt-inducing chore it had once been, and so she was able to be in and out within ten minutes, without any trips to the bathroom to suffer through an emotional breakdown.

She arrived at work, and sat in her car—still Juliette's old car—in the parking garage for another ten minutes. She thought about texting Nick, and then thought better of it. He was usually busy, especially in the morning, and she wasn't sure what she would say that wouldn't sound needy and emotional. _I know you loved her, but please love me more?_ She thought about texting Rosalee for another lunch date and then remembered that Rosalee knew she had gone to meet some people at Hadrian's Wall and would undoubtedly want to know what had happened while she was there. Another person she didn't feel like getting into it with. Rosalee had been very good friends with Juliette and she had been a great friend to Adalind, a much better friend than she had deserved, and she didn't want to make it awkward between them because of loyalty to Juliette, like it was awkward between Adalind and Trubel, and basically everyone else in Nick's circle that had known Juliette before. She needed some of her own friends.

She looked around at the inside of the vehicle, a dull practical automobile with four wheels and space for Kelly, and some of his things were littered about in the car, but it didn't feel like it was hers, and it never would be. It was one more thing that she had borrowed from Juliette and tried to make it fit to her life, but it wasn't working.

She flipped open the browser on her phone and scrolled through some car sites, before a rap on her window had her gasping and made her drop her phone. Louis. She quickly stuffed the phone into an inside pocket on her suit jacket and opened the car door.

"Louis!" she said, affecting a big, wide, fake smile.

%%%%%%%%

Honestly. She wasn't sure how much more she could take. She had spent the last twenty minutes smiling and nodding in all the right places as Louis discussed the Abermeier merger, appearing to all intents and purposes that they were just colleagues discussing a work matter, and not Wesen (well, one anyway) trying to avoid appearing too obvious as they colluded about the destruction on the world, or at least her world.

She had thought she might lose him once she got to her office, but he followed her in and continued discussing the trade deadline and the documents they still needed to file. If Anita was any type of assistant at all she would recognize Adalind's subtle _Please get him the fuck out of here_ signs and at the very least dump the cup of coffee she had offered to Louis in his lap.

By the time she arrived home with Kelly she was exhausted and not looking forward to her evening. She had a crapload of work to do and Kelly to tend to. Nick wasn't home yet, and she wondered if she would see him at all this evening. He hadn't called or texted all day and she wondered if the silence meant he was busy or if things were still weird between them. She tried not to read much into it; he didn't always call or text her daily, but he had always felt close.

She dropped her things and set about fixing Kelly's dinner, cleaning up a bit about the loft and then giving Kelly his bath. She smiled as he splashed and played and she felt her heart lighten a bit. They both giggled and squealed and splashed and she managed to forget her problems for just a little while as they played. By the time they were done she might as well have taken a bath with him.

"Look at me!" she exclaimed to Kelly who fussed as she wrapped him in a towel to dry him off. "I look like a drowned rat," she muttered, looking down at herself.

"I think you look pretty cute," Nick said and she jumped.

"Oh my god!" she said.

"Sorry," Nick replied. He was leaning against the doorway holding a beer. "You didn't hear me come in?"

"Obviously not," she muttered, setting Kelly down to finish drying him off. He slipped out of the towel and ran to his father, who smiled a greeting and bent down as though to pick his son up, before Kelly used to change in position to slip past the confines of the bathroom and into the loft.

"Oh, quick! Nick! Catch him before he pees on something!"

She tossed the towel to him and Nick sprinted after his son, three quick strides and capturing a giggling Kelly before he continued his streak through the loft. "Gotcha!" Nick crowed, before muttering, "you better not pee on me," and Kelly hollered out a "No!" that shook the walls.

"Just what do you think you're doing running from your mom," he asked his son, swaddling him in the towel before handing him back to Adalind. Nick took another sip of his beer and watched Adalind finish drying him off.

He trailed after them as Adalind took Kelly into his room to dress him and get him ready for bed, but the appearance of Nick had reinvigorated Kelly and she passed their son to Nick knowing that it would be a couple of hours before he wound down.

"You're home late," Adalind said, ignoring the look Nick gave her and heading back out into the kitchen.

"Busy day," Nick said, giving Kelly an airplane and buzzing him all over the loft. She sighed, watching father and son play, normally an endearing sight to her, but tonight she felt exhausted and the noise and commotion was giving her a headache. Kelly shrieked and laughed and Nick smiled and began to chuckle as well before bringing Kelly in for a landing and setting him on his feet.

She couldn't help the smile that appeared as Kelly rocked on his feet in a little happy dance and then held his arms up again for more. Nick grinned too and looked up at Adalind, his smile dimming a bit when he caught sight of her.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Tired," Adalind said, and went back to cleaning up the kitchen. "Have you eaten anything?" she asked, heading to the fridge.

"Hank and I had some burgers at work," he said, and she turned around and picked up her sponge again.

"How about you, how was your day?" he asked, giving into Kelly's demands and picking him up again. He carried Kelly over closer to Adalind and leaned against the counter beside her. They both looked at Kelly as he chattered in his baby speak and Nick smiled again when Kelly blew a spit bubble. He looked at Adalind, and this time his gaze lingered.

"Exhausting," she said avoiding his eyes, not wanting to get into it.

"You look pretty tired," he said, and he bent down and gave her a kiss on her forehead. Kelly grabbed a fistful of her hair and they spent a couple of minutes detangling her from his grasp. "You should go to bed early."

"Can't. Got too much work to do," she said, and she patted Kelly's leg before placing a kiss on his cheek. Kelly grinned and looked away, embarrassed at sixteen months at having his mom show him affection, and she glanced up at Nick, noticing the small smile on his face as he watched his son. He caught her stare and reached his hand out and brushed his thumb across her cheek.

"I missed you guys," he said, and Adalind offered a small smile of her own. She started to move away but Nick caught her and pulled her to him, this time pressing his mouth against hers, tongue gliding along the seal of her lips and Adalind allowed the kiss to deepen, desperate for the reassurance of his affection. She felt Kelly grab another fistful of hair and Nick's gun hip knocked against the counter as he turned more fully towards her.

Things were always very easily physical between them. She felt warmth pooling in her abdomen and then she felt Kelly grab two fistfuls of her hair and she had to break away.

"Ow! Kell-bell!" she said, trying to wrangle herself away.

"Kelly, let go of mommy's hair," Nick said, trying to help, but Kelly seemed only to dig in more.

"Here—"

"He's got—"

"Okay, there just—"

"Ow!"

"Sorry!" and then Nick hefted him up, sliding his pajama top up as well, and nipped at his abdomen, the whiskers on his nine o clock shadow tickling and causing Kelly to squeal, and more importantly for him to _let go_.

"Ah!" Adalind exclaimed and Nick righted Kelly again, sliding his arm under his diaper padded butt.

"Sorry," Nick said again, "you okay."

"I still have hair, right?" Adalind asked, rubbing her head.

"Yeah. Some of it," Nick replied and then smiled mischievously when Adalind slid her eyes to his, unimpressed.

"Seems like _somebody_ ," and here she tickled Kelly, "inherited his father's obsession with my hair."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Nick said, and Adalind smirked.

"Sure you don't."

She rubbed her hand over her mouth, where she felt a little bit raw from Nick's half-formed beard. "You need to shave," she said, although she was rather fond of his scruffy look.

Nick ran his hand over his face and nodded. "I'll take care of that tomorrow morning," he replied, and set Kelly on the floor where he toddled off toward the living room. Nick finished his beer and Adalind finished scrubbing down the sink.

"You seen Trubel?" he asked, and Adalind shook her head.

"Not for several days. Is she still staying here?"

"Her stuff's in the study."

"Didn't you talk to her last night?" Adalind asked, recalling his excuse not to come to bed.

"She didn't come home," he said, throwing his bottle away. He watched as Adalind picked up her briefcase and set it on the table.

"You worried?" She pulled out the documents she needed to go over and spread them out over the table. Nick snorted as he thumbed through some of them, "It's not like we're her parents. She can come and go as she pleases, but she was supposed to be checking into something for me and I haven't heard from her in a couple of days."

Adalind looked up from where she was preparing to dissect some financials that Lane had supplied her with, noting Kelly finally looking like he might be winding down.

"What was she looking into?"

Nick slid his fingers over some more papers and Adalind narrowed her eyes, recognizing the stall tactic for what it was. "Nick," she said.

"Hmm?" He looked up, and tried a polite smile.

"What was she looking into?" Adalind asked again.

"Nothing," he said dismissively. "Just something for a case." But the only case Trubel would be helping him with was the op with Meisner and Eve. "He's almost out," Nick said, and she followed his line of sight to their son, listing thirty degrees to port on the shag rug near the sofa.

"No, it's something, and I know it's something because you won't tell me," she said, folding her hands on top of the table and leaning back in her chair. She glared pointedly at Nick and he sighed too, and put his hands on his hips.

"I asked her to find out about the azithrotoxin," he admitted. "We need to know if it's possible for it to work as Louis is hoping it will."

 _"_ We or you?" she said before she could trap it between her lips.

"Me?"

"Yeah, if Eve gets infected with the toxin, it will make her human again." Nick scoffed and moved away from the table.

"Doubtful," Nick said. "Clearly stripping Eve of her powers is big on his list. He'll be determined to meet his goal. I think he'll have a plan B, C, and D, if you can't inject her with the toxin. We need to know what it will do or if there's any way to stop it."

"Would stopping it be so bad?" Adalind ventured. "I mean, she'll be Juliette."

"And what, we all live happily ever after?" Nick spat, and she was surprised by the vehemence in his voice.

"She won't be a hexenbiest," Adalind said cautiously.

"No, we _think_ she won't be a hexenbiest. We don't know what she'll be, if anything." Nick heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm going to put Kelly to bed," he told her, and she glanced behind her to see Kelly slumped over the floor.

He dropped a perfunctory kiss on the top of her head and bid her goodnight. She watched him disappear in their son's room and she waited for him to surface. After a few minutes she heard the squeak of the glider rocker springs as he rocked slowly back and forth. She grabbed one of her files and pulled it to her.


	10. Chapter 10

AN; Those of you who are fellow writers, have you ever looked at story stats? It's amazing how far and wide not only your story reaches, but how far the Grimm fandom does. Thank you to all who enjoy.

%%%%%%

He had shaved, she noticed. Unfortunately, he hadn't offered her any opportunity to enjoy it. He had slept most of the night in Kelly's room in the rocker, although she had felt him join her in bed sometime after two-thirty. He was up, shaved, and dressed in his usual attire before six-thirty: blue jeans, scuffed work boots, a charcoal button down shirt tucked in that highlighted his slender frame, gold police badge clipped on his right hip, and gun holstered on his left. He was fresh from the shower, smelled heavenly of his aftershave and body wash and was on his way out the door by the time she gathered enough energy to trudge to the bathroom. He was throwing on the black, lightweight jacket he always wore, the one with the large buttons and epaulets on the shoulders that she secretly loved him in. Everything about him was familiar, worn, and unassuming.

He looked smokin' hot.

"Wow," she mumbled, and she realized she might not be quite awake yet. "You're going in already?" she said, and he shook the collar of his jacket out to straighten it, before throwing the elevator gate up and pausing to look at her.

"Yup, got some things to look into. I'll see you tonight," he replied, and popped a kiss on her cheek before stepping onto the lift. She felt disappointed that she hadn't elicited more of Nick's attention, and more importantly, his affection, and she listened to the elevator grind down to the main floor before continuing on with her own preparations to make ready for the day.

Turned out, that moment in the apartment set the tone for the rest of the week: one big letdown after another. There was a major setback in the Abermeier case and so she had to scrap all the work she had done the night before and most of the week. Kelly decided to throw a fit the first thing one morning and then he threw his breakfast all over the floor, table, him and her, resulting in a change of clothes, and Nick was preoccupied with work, and finding out whether Louis' toxin might be effective against Juliette, which was slowly driving Adalind insane.

And then Thursday Louis showed up to intercept her in the parking garage on her way back from lunch.

"Oh, God," she moaned to herself when she saw him. She plastered a smile on her face and started walking to meet him halfway. She had been just about to punch the button for the elevator when she saw him, and had to seriously fight the urge to punch his face when she reached him. She took a firm hold on her purse with both hands to be safe and said, "Louis!"

She glanced around in confusion when two men slid up behind her. "What's going on?"

"Something's come up," he said.

"With the merger?" she asked but when both men moved to her side and each grabbed an arm, she knew it had nothing to do work.

"It's time," he said. He made a motion with his head and one of the men jerked her forward.

"Now?" She tried slow their momentum, but they just yanked yarder.

"It would be better for you if you didn't fight it," Louis murmured. She lost her grip on her keys from the jostling and heard them clatter to the ground. "Where are we going?" she asked as they jerked her along.

"We're going to take a drive," Louis said. "Or at least you are."

"Ohhh-kay," she replied, wincing when the grip on her wrists tightened painfully.

They dragged her to a white commercial van with no decals and slid open the passenger door. "Wait!" she said, panicking. She kicked her feet out to try to block them from forcing her in, but one of them smacked her hard across the face. Every part of it stung from her lips to her ears, and they used the opportunity to shove her inside. They dumped her on the floor of the van and she was still seeing stars when they threw a bag over her head.

%%%%%%%%

She tried to listen as they transported her to their destination, tried to count the number of turns and the time between them, but after the twelfth left and tenth right she lost count somewhere down the line. It probably didn't matter anyway. The number of turns would suggest they might be going in circles or trying to confuse her, or going up into the mountains where she wouldn't have an idea where she was and how to explain it. She was having a hard time breathing anyway, the bag becoming warm and wet as she panted out her breaths, trying not to hyperventilate as she thought about her situation.

If they were taking her, did that mean they had Kelly already?

Did Nick know?

Did anybody? She hadn't returned from lunch so surely someone would notice she was gone, but how long until or if they reported it to someone. She and Nick hadn't been communicating much while they were both working lately, but she had off and on been in touch with Rosalee every couple of days. They would figure something out when she didn't pick up Kelly from daycare. Assuming something hadn't already happened with Kelly at daycare. But how long until she would normally be there?

The van slowed and then stopped after a moment. She tried to listen to whatever sounds she could detect through the bag and the van, but she couldn't really hear anything to tell her where she was at. Still in the city? But she didn't hear much traffic noise. Likewise, she didn't hear any sounds that would make her think she was in the woods. The van door slid open and two arms grabbed her roughly again.

"Ow! Watch how you handle the merchandise!" she snapped. They ignored her remark, and perhaps they decided to be even rougher because of it, because it seemed like she was pushed into a lot of stationary objects before she heard the creak of hinges on a door and then boots on a wood floor. They helped her climb a set of stairs and then deposited her on a hard wooden chair in a room. She blinked when they pulled the bag off, her hair falling around her face with static electricity.

She looked around.

"Well, this is cozy," she said, but her assailants ignored her. It was rather derelict in the room; exposed plaster and crumbling crown molding. There was carpet…in some places she noted, wrinkling her nose. There was also a boarded up window, with daylight streaming through the cracks, so she reasoned it was still early to mid-afternoon judging by the daylight and the amount of time she thought it took them to get here…wherever here was.

She watched as the two men moved about the room, one on a cell phone, the other keeping a close eye on Adalind. She smiled beatifically at that one and tried to listen in on the conversation, but it was too faint for her to hear. Her attention was soon diverted to a newcomer to their little soiree.

He was tall—taller than Nick certainly, and maybe even Sean, solidly built with sandy blonde hair. He was dressed in all black; black pants, black shirt, black leather jacket and Adalind had to refrain from rolling her eyes. Why did it always mean if you were a member of a rogue organization that you had to excise color from your wardrobe? He came to stand before her, hands clasped behind his back, and looked down at her seated on the chair. His eyes roved over her critically. She felt the inclination to stand from his expression and found herself doing so before she really gave it conscious thought.

"So, you're the Grimm's lover?" he asked. Adalind narrowed her eyes.

"Well that depends. Who's asking?"

He smiled, cold and shrewd. "You're right, we haven't properly been introduced, Ms. Schade. Forgive me, I'm Brighton Sudcliffe. You're the Wesen who bore him a child. How did you ever convince him to sleep with you in the first place?"

Adalind pursed her lips but said nothing. "A Grimm and a Hexenbiest? Not only fornicating but procreating. Come now, don't keep me in suspense."

"A verfluchte zwillingsscwester-an entwining twin curse. I looked like his girlfriend at the time."

"Ahh, yes, Juliette. The love of his life."

Yes, Juliette. She managed a polite nod. "And you just snuck in and switched places and he was none the wiser. A Grimm sleeping with a Hexenbiest under such circumstances—there are great consequences."

"Yes, he lost his powers," she said.

"Brava! Except, somehow he regained his powers. He's still a Grimm."

"Yes, " she said in a bored voice, "They figured out a way to reverse the spell and he got his powers back, but Juliette became a hexenbiest as a result."

"Yes," he murmured. "A very powerful one, I understand." And Adalind raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"So the Grimm has his powers again, you have had his child, and the threat of retribution for your betrayal is gone since his one true love died over a year ago in his arms. Tragic. Except she didn't die, did she?"

"Looks like," Adalind replied, watching Goon #2 disappear from the room. Goon #1 stood at the doorway, his arms folded in front of him.

"What do you know of this Eve?"

"Not a whole lot. Just what I've learned from Nick and the others," she said.

"Nick. Yes. He seems to be rather fond of you and this child."

Adalind managed to remain still, but she sensed a change in topic she was not comfortable with.

"He misses Juliette. I'm just a warm body."

"I don't think you give yourself enough credit," Sudcliffe said, amused, "it seems he's quite sentimental about your role in producing another Grimm heir."

"We have an arrangement. He gives us protection and I throw a little extra in there to make it worth his while."

"You? A hexenbiest? I can't imagine he'd find that all that attractive."

"Well, obviously I'm not woged when that happens," Adalind spat.

"You're not woged at all. Rumor has it you're without powers," Sudcliffe said. "No longer a hexenbiest or Wesen. Yes, I can see why you still need him, and perhaps where you might suddenly hold some appeal to him then."

"Yes, well, it's not like he has to put a bag over my head." She snapped, insulted. Sudcliffe smirked.

"I can't imagine, though, how you would still hold appeal to Louis," he remarked. "A hexenbiest he could use, but a human?" He shook his head, and Adalind swallowed. "You really don't have a fight in this, do you?"

"Louis has promised me a way out, I can take my son and leave."

"I don't think you want to take your son. I think you might be sentimental about the father of your baby. You're loyal to the Grimm," he stated.

"No, I just—I can't leave. If I take Nick's son he'll hunt me down. Louis is offering me refuge with your group. I'll be safe."

Sudcliffe smiled and Adalind shivered. No, they both knew she wouldn't be safe.

"Yes, safe from the Grimm," he said. "Whom you love."

He stared knowingly and she swallowed again, slowly shaking her head. "And who loves you, I believe. It's really quite…extraordinary."

"No. No, it's not like that. He's still in love with Juliette."

Sudcliffe smiled again and Adalind swore she saw death underneath it. Whatever he was he was creepy as hell.

"Perhaps," he allowed. "Why don't we find out?"

She felt a cold chill overtake her and creep down her spine.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you're not loyal to the Grimm then I'm sure it won't take long for you to see the light, so to speak." He nodded to Goon #1 who took a step forward and popped his knuckles.

"I feel we've had all the meaningful conversation we can have right now. You're just not being honest with me. Maybe because you can't be honest with yourself, I don't know, but perhaps you just need the opportunity to work through it." He wiggled a finger in a come here gesture and Goon #1 stood before her.

"I'm going to leave you both to it," Sudcliffe smiled at Adalind and the Goon and then left the room. She heard his footsteps fade away in time with her heartbeat which was loud and close in her ears. Work through it? What did that mean exactly? She smiled nervously at the Goon and he sneered.

He made a fist and pulled his arm back.

Adalind closed her eyes and ducked at the last second.

The arm that had been on trajectory to make contact with her face went high and slammed into the wall behind her. She tipped over her chair as Goon #1 grasped for purchase. She kicked out and made contact. She heard him gasp with an "Oof" and hold his arms over his stomach. She scrambled to get out from under him before the next fist came. She just made it to her feet when the plaster beside her exploded. She whirled and gasped, and another bullet whizzed just above her head. Apparently he was done with the hand-to-hand.

She ducked down again and crab-walked as fast as possible to the doorway. She heard her assailant coming behind her and she quickened her pace, almost through the door when she felt the pull on her ankle. She grasped the rug and looked for something to use as a weapon. She twisted to look at her attacker, Wesen, of course, a Hollentier by the looks of it, and rammed her free foot into his face. He snarled and loosened his grip momentarily before tightening and yanking her towards him. She rammed her foot again, harder this time, and he let go and she scrambled away again, getting to her feet and running down the hall.

She heard a phone buzzing and then she remembered she had stuck it in her coat. They hadn't frisked her, either unconcerned or certain that she wouldn't be afforded an opportunity to make or take any calls. She heard the Hollentier pounding behind her, and she grabbed the doorframe and whirled around the corner. She wasn't sure how many rounds were left in firing the gun, but she knew she couldn't outrun both for long. She sprinted down the stairs and made it to the main level where she skidded to a stop in the entry way.

Eve stood tall, platinum blond bob, leather clad body calm and deadly in the doorway. She raised her hand and she heard a gasp, and then a choking sound. Adalind whirled and saw the Hollentier suspended in air behind her. He hovered for a few moments and then Eve hurled him into the fireplace, almost _through_ the fireplace. She cocked her head, as though listening and Adalind caught herself doing the same thing, then dived for cover when the foyer was peppered with bullets. Eve neatly dodged the onslaught, rolling and come to a crouch in a smooth evasive move, and Adalind jumped when she realized it had brought Eve next to her.

"We need to get out of this house," Adalind said. Eve made no reply, just raised a fist and she heard the sound of bones cracking and a moan of pain. She heard another crack and then a loud, dull thump, like that of a body hitting the floor. She peered around the chair she was crouched behind and noticed her second attacker lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. Eve was already on her feet and moving by the time Adalind swung her head around to look at her.

"Time to go," Eve said and strode out of the house. Adalind swallowed and got to her feet and followed. Her phone buzzed again and she nearly tripped down the porch steps trying to keep up with Eve and answer it.

"Adalind?"

"Nick?" She said, and there was no mistaking the panic in his voice.

"Where are you?" he demanded and Adalind looked around trying to orient herself. She had no idea where they were, the houses unfamiliar.

"I don't know," she said. "I'm—I'm with Eve, somewhere in the city. Nick, they're going after Kelly!" she cried.

"No they're not," he said, "Are you safe?"

"I don't know. I-uh-I think so?"

"Stay where you are," and the line went dead.

She looked up and saw Eve striding down the road, several yards ahead of her and she ran to catch up. "We need to get to Kelly," Adalind said, and Eve ignored her.

"They're going after my son!" she shouted.

"Nick's son," Eve replied, and Adalind nearly screamed. "Yes, he's Nick's son, too, that should mean something to you!" and Eve merely looked at her. They had made it to the end of the block and here Eve paused, surveying the street before striding with purpose to sleek black BMW. Car alarms began to go off down the street as Eve manipulated the door open and slid in. Adalind rushed around the car to take the passenger seat beside her, and was about to make a snide remark about being able to start it, when Eve flipped the driver's side visor down and a pair of keys fell into her lap.

"We need to get to Kelly. His daycare is on Hanover and Whitman."

"We're going somewhere else first," Eve replied.

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Feedback is always appreciated. (in fact, it's craved...like fine chocolate...or you know any chocolate. _chocolate...)_


	11. Chapter 11

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"Where are we? What are we doing here? We need to get to Kelly," Adalind said when Eve pulled to a stop. She had been making comments in a similar vein all through the drive in the city, but Eve paid it no heed, just as she paid it no heed now. She was out of the car and striding briskly towards an elevator before Adalind had unbuckled her seatbelt. She had taken Adalind to a parking garage somewhere in midtown, about ten blocks from where she worked. She climbed out of the car and ran after Eve, who never slowed her pace. They had almost reached the elevator by the time Adalind had caught up. She leapt and tackled Eve from behind, catching Eve off guard, but Eve recovered quickly and flung her off as though swatting a fly. Adalind smacked the pavement hard and winced. She heard something crunch.

"You bitch," she muttered, when she had gotten up, fishing her cellphone out of her pocket. The screen was now in about 300 cracked pieces. She tried to press a button and received no response. She punched at the screen and sound buttons before finally dropping it on the ground in defeat. "You're just going to let them take a child? He's _Nick's_ son," she emphasized, hoping that it touched that part of Eve that still remembered her history with Nick. "He's just a baby," she pleaded.

Eve said nothing. "You loved Nick once," Adalind continued, "You know how much Nick loves his family; if anything happened to his son, this would tear him apart. You have to help me—Nick—keep Kelly safe!"

"Nick loves you," Eve observed, "Why?" and Adalind faltered.

Why?

 _Why?_ They didn't have time for this. Every moment they spent arguing was another moment that Kelly could be slipping away from them. She didn't know where Nick was at, and she hoped he had made it to Kelly, had him somewhere safe, but she wasn't going to relax until she saw him.

"I—I don't know why," Adalind said. "What does it matter? Maybe he doesn't! It's not the same as…it's not like when he was with you," she added. "It's…it's a different kind of love, maybe…look! I don't know, all right? We don't have time for this!"

"You tried to destroy him. You tried to destroy me. You destroyed our relationship," she continued, no inflection or accusation and that somehow made it even worse. "And now you love him. Most fascinatingly he appears to be sentimental about you."

"I know, look, believe me—"

"You love him, and because you bore him a child he gives his loyalty to you."

"He was just—"

"We spent six years together. I remember everything. I gave up my whole life for him. Anything you threw at him we worked through, no matter the cost to everyone around us. You tried to ruin his life and because your sleeping with him resulted in a child from your union he gave his loyalty to you. I became a hexenbiest to restore his Grimm powers and he couldn't even look at me," Eve remarked calmly, and Adalind swallowed. It occurred to her that maybe Eve without Meisner's direct influence was not something she wanted to experience a whole lot of.

"You're a hexenbiest. Or you were," Eve said, and Adalind felt her body grow colder. "Do you think Nick would be so loyal to you if you were to become one again? Would he want a child of his raised by you?" and she asked the question as though she was really curious as to the answer, which unsettled Adalind even more. No she wasn't sure that he would. She realized long ago that much of their relationship's present harmony was due to the fact of her suppressed and then ultimately gone powers. That if she woged anywhere around him that he wouldn't be so accommodating perhaps.

"I don't want to go back to that life," Adalind said, wondering if she needed to get her hands on a weapon, but there was nothing close and she knew Eve could be on her the moment she took her attention away from her.

"Why? You could have your powers back. You wouldn't be so...helpless," Eve noted. "So dependent on Nick. Unless you like being dependent on Nick," she added, regarding her thoughtfully, and Adalind realized this was more animation than she had ever seen with Eve. "He always did have a bit of a hero complex. Perhaps he likes it, too," she observed, cocking her head, considering.

"Look," Adalind said, "We're wasting time. We need to protect Kelly."

"No," Eve said, "We don't."

"We can't let Louis get a hold of him!"

"That's not my concern," Eve replied.

"You're supposed to be protecting him!"

"That's not my mission," Eve said.

"Your mission? Your mission is to keep the Wesen uprising from getting to Nick and compromising you both. The key to that is keeping Kelly safe! How is that not your mission?" She cried, and Eve allowed a smile, a rather cold dead thing on her face. "I mean, what are we even doing here? Where are we at?"

"Exactly where we're supposed to be."

"Holy shit! Can you actually answer a question for once instead of speaking in riddles."

Eve gave her a flat look. "I did answer the question."

"Did you hear me? We need to get to Kelly. I need to see that he's safe. His daycare is-"

"His daycare is of no concern to us right now." Eve glanced around her, taking in the surroundings with a critical eye. Adalind spared the space a glance before refocusing on Eve.

"My baby- _Nick's_ baby, Eve-could be in serious danger. Do you want to see a poor little defenseless baby hurt?"

"Your, or _Nick's,_ child, however you want to think of him, does not concern me. He made his choice there long ago, and he was quite adamant that I have no contact with his child. There are others tasked with taking care of that mission. This building belongs to black claw," Eve said, and Adalind glanced around again, this time taking in more details.

"Great. Have Meisner put somebody else on it. We need to get to my son!"

"Meisner has other concerns. There is more going on in the uprising than just the attempt on your son," Eve said, a little condescendingly. "I need more information before we can proceed." Eve looked at her before striding away.

Adalind looked around the garage. She needed to get to a phone. She could call the daycare, a cab, Nick. If Eve wanted to look around and investigate something else, she could go ahead and do whatever she wanted, but Adalind had different priorities. "If you're not going to help me get to my son then I'll find someone who will."

She moved opposite of Eve, looking for the exit arrows and heading in the direction they pointed. She helped when her arm was wrenched around.

"Ow, watch it, you bitch!" she screeched.

"You can't leave," Eve said. "You need to stay here."

"Why?"

"Those are my orders," Eve said after a moment.

"Whose orders? Oh my god, you're not working for Louis are you?" Adalind said after a moment where her mind ran through possible scenarios.

"I wish," a masculine voice said and Adalind whirled, registering the whistle and _snick_ of an arrow connecting with its target only when Eve bent forward slightly. There was another _snick, snick_ , and two more arrows connected. Eve stumbled and Louis appeared from the stairwell, a large club in his hand. He brought it down smoothly against Eve who collapsed from the force. Two more men appeared around Louis and attended to Eve's prone form.

"Well," Louis said, looking at Adalind apologetically. "this is awkward," and he swung the club again.

%%%%%%%%%

She came to slowly, groaning when she moved her head and it throbbed painfully. She almost felt sick, and wondered vaguely if that meant she had a concussion. She rolled to her side and swallowed back the bile that crept up her throat. She opened her eyes and squinted as the light stabbed her eyes, and frowned when she realized a body was lying next to her.

Eve.

She sat up suddenly, and regretted it immediately when she retched. She coughed and choked for a moment, before she spat on the floor next to her.

Eve still wasn't moving and Adalind realized she needed to see if she was dead. She crawled forward and touched her shoulder, half expecting to have Eve suddenly reanimated at her touch, but nothing happened.

"Eve?"

She looked around the room, a windowless cellar, with concrete floor and walls. She hoped they weren't back at the house again, but she didn't think they were. She wasn't sure how long they had been out, but she didn't think they had been moved any farther than to this room. Which begged the question: where had Eve taken them to?

"Eve," she said again, shaking her shoulder. She looked her over for obvious signs of injury but could find nothing except for three large puncture marks; two in her abdomen and the other in her arm, and Adalind sat back with a cold sense of foreboding.

The azithrotoxin. She wondered if it had worked, and then wondered if she was looking at the answer. She didn't think Eve would still be lying on the ground unconscious if it hadn't.

"Juliette!" she tried, but still nothing.

Great. She was on her own for the time being. She wondered if Nick had any idea where they were. He had told her to stay at the house at wherever, but then that had been possibly hours ago and she wasn't sure if he had any leads. She blinked back tears and hoped he had Kelly safe at least. She took a deep breath. She couldn't afford to let that distract her right now. Right now, she had to stay alive long enough to see them again. She took another glance around the room again, this time scrutinizing the details. She actually had a lot of experience in rooms like this over the course of her lifetime. She needed to use it to her advantage. They were clearly in a holding type cell, not a difficult deduction to make, and since neither she nor Eve were dead, they clearly still had some use to somebody. That somebody was probably Louis, which meant that maybe they still had yet to put their plan in effect to manipulate Nick, which meant there was still some time to alter said plan.

"Uhhh…" and Adalind whirled, having momentarily forgot about Eve.

She crawled back to her side and smiled in relief when she saw her wince.

"Oh, good, you're awake," she said. Eve opened her eyes and jumped back when she saw Adalind. She supposed she was a little close, and then Adalind noticed the look in her eyes.

"Juliette?" she asked and Juliette raised a hand to her head and then tried to move away.

"Don't move too fast, you'll—" but Juliette was already scooting back to the wall. She turned, clutching her stomach and dry heaved over the floor. "—be sick," Adalind finished.

"Where are we?" Juliette asked, and it was Juliette. The question held a note of concern she would never associate with Eve.

"No idea," Adalind replied, watching her carefully. "You brought us here, I think. If we're still where you brought us. Are you all right?"

Juliette nodded after a moment. She took a few breaths, and then looked at Adalind.

"The azithrotoxin. Looks like you were injected with it," Adalind replied, and watched as Juliette tried to woge. Her face rippled a couple of times, but nothing else happened. "aaaaand it looks like it works."

Juliette raised her eyes to Adalind's. "We need to get out of here."

"Well, I suppose we can just call the bellhop to come get our stuff. Hello! We're ready to check out now!" she hollered, and then winced when her head protested.

"Concussion?" Juliette asked, and Adalind risked a small nod. "Maybe. Probably," she amended.

"How long have we been here?"

"I don't know. I don't even know where _here_ is. Where did you take us?"

"Bentley and Andersons, but I don't think we're still there."

Adalind squinted. The name was vaguely familiar but she couldn't place it. "Why?"

The lock on the door clanged, surprising both women, who obviously didn't expect such an answer to Adalind's request earlier. They both looked to it. Juliette scrambled to the side, and Adalind jerkily got to her feet to greet whoever came through it.

"Louis! Louis! Oh, thank God," Adalind cried, remembering herself and her cover. She moved a few steps back, towards Louis and away from Juliette, but kept herself out of everyone's reach just in case.

"Ah, you're awake," Louis said, ignoring Adalind. He looked at Juliette carefully and she braced herself against the wall behind her and got slowly to her feet.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"It appears our little experiment worked," he remarked and Adalind looked at Juliette.

"I'm normal?" she said, running her hands over her body.

"Hmm…close enough," Louis said. "Nicholas will be pleased," he added, looking at Adalind, and she felt her heart drop. Juliette looked at Louis and then Adalind.

"What are you talking about?" she asked backing away from Louis.

"Your one true love, reunited," Louis replied and Juliette shook her head.

"No," she said, and took another step back.

"He mourned you terribly, you know. Forced to take up with the mother of his child to soothe his loneliness and regret over losing you so horribly. I heard you died in his arms, my dear. Yet here you are, and as he loved you so completely before," and Adalind looked at Juliette and shook her head, too, heart breaking. All Nick had wanted was for Juliette to return to the way she was. They had lost the only chance they had when Juliette had destroyed the potion, but now… Juliette took another step back and looked back at Adalind silently.

"I expect you'll have much to talk about when you're reunited," Louis said. "A few hurdles to overcome," he added, looking at Adalind conspiratorially, "but, true love conquers all, doesn't it? And what you have with the Grimm," he said to Adalind, sneering, "can hardly be classified as that." Adalind swallowed, trying to summon a reply and some sorely needed bravado when she realized Juliette twitched her head…towards the open door.

Louis turned his attention back to Juliette, who had moved another foot closer to the door while Louis had been preoccupied, and Adalind shifted a step closer.

"It was over between us before I died," Juliette said. "He's not interested in resuming a relationship again," and Adalind moved another yard before she was forced to stop when Louis glanced between them. Juliette moved away from the door and closer to Louis. "You'd do better to leave well enough alone."

"I think you underestimate his devotion to you."

"I think you overestimate it" she said, and Adalind move another yard. "He has a child now with… _her_ ," Juliette said, and Adalind glanced up. Juliette had taken another few steps forward, toes in Louis' personal space. He watched her warily and Juliette stepped slowly around him, forcing him to turn slightly to keep track of her. "He won't give up his responsibility." Adalind sidled further to the door, and met Juliette's eyes over Louis' shoulder.

Juliette leapt, her right leg extending out in an incredibly precise kick, that caught Louis on the chin. He crashed into the wall, and then the floor, but Adalind didn't see what else happened since she was out the door, and soon trailing in Juliette's wake. She couldn't tell if the speed and precision in which Juliette had executed that move was Eve bleeding through the effects of the azithrotoxin, but she wasn't about to slow down and ask.

"Hurry," Juliette said and Adalind risked a glance behind her and saw Louis appear in the corridor.

"Nice move," Adalind said, panting as they sprinted down another long hallway. "Did they teach you that at the Wall?"

"No. Nick," Juliette replied, and Adalind raised her eyebrows in surprise, and then gave up the conversation when she heard Louis' bark out something behind her.

"Do you know where we're going?" Adalind asked.

"I don't even know where we are," Juliette replied, and they rounded a corner and screeched to a halt. Four doors, and they split the difference evenly and tried each one.

"Shit," Adalind said, and glanced behind her. "Maybe we can kick one down?" she asked and Juliette looked behind her as well. She nodded. "On three. One…two…" and both kicked at one door on the next count.

"Ahh!"

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Adalind said, hobbling.

"Nick always made it look so easy," Juliette muttered and Adalind looked at her. She glanced behind her and said. "Again!" Both girls lunged forward and cursed again when it didn't so much as budge.

"He's almost here," Juliette said, and turned again to the door. "One more time," but Adalind screamed in pain when Louis' wrenched her back by her hair. She blacked out for a moment and realized her face was pressed against the floor. She heard Juliette yell, heard the sound of contact being made as Juliette attempted to fight him off, and then she heard Louis say, "I suppose the bruises will only hasten his sympathy to you. You're welcome my dear," and then Juliette went silent.

Adalind tried to get to her feet, but the concussion from earlier and now this latest attack had her reeling, and she couldn't stop her head from spinning enough to find a solid purchase. She blacked out before her cheek hit the cold cement again.


	12. Chapter 12

Well, this was really getting aggravating.

She peered out at her surroundings with one squinty eye.

Another day another holding cell.

Or perhaps it was still the same day, she didn't know. She couldn't tell how long she had been out, and there wasn't light or anything to orient herself by. Her cheek stung, and her face felt sticky. She smelled the metallic tang of blood in the air and thought maybe the two might be related. She mused on this for longer than what should have been necessary before something finally pervaded the haze of her mind and she noticed she was alone this time in the holding cell.

She pondered why that seemed to be significant and then gave up the study. She was sore all over, her leg and foot throbbing in time with the dull ache in her head. She decided to take inventory of herself and came up with a sore head, in addition to the dull internal ache and stabbing pain within it, and bruised arms and wrists, although the rope binding them might be the cause of _that_. She stared at them blankly and then remembered she had smacked her head on the pavement. A couple of times.

 _Concussion_.

Ah, that explained the throbbing and the pain and the general malaise she felt north of the equator. She pondered how she came to be in this state and then abruptly remembered Louis and Juliette, and looked around her again.

Clearly Louis wasn't going to risk putting them together again, and she wondered where he had stashed Juliette and what shape she was in.

Her clothes itched, and she shifted uncomfortably, noting dully they were filthy. Perhaps she had been here for a while then.

She realized she had some blood in her hair, hers she guessed, and managed enough mental clarity to realize she had a cut on her head that had bled down her face and hair.

She made a horrible redhead. And then she laughed at that.

 _Ooohhh-kay. Maybe she was worse off than she thought._

Nick loved redheads. Or had loved one redhead in particular, and she didn't think he had room in his heart for two, and then she sobered.

Juliette.

Louis had planned to strip Eve of her powers, resurrecting Juliette. And then he had planned on delivering Juliette to Nick.

He _had_ stripped Juliette of her powers. She remembered that with cold lucidity. Now she wondered if Juliette's absence meant her reappearance in Nick's life.

She missed Nick suddenly, wishing he would appear before her, reassuring smile on his face, kind, serious calm eyes as he removed the ropes from her wrists, and she could see his dark head bent over her studiously as he focused on the knots.

"You saved me," she whispered. He looked up and smiled again. "Always," and she sighed in relief. He would take care of it all.

"What about Kelly?" she asked, remembering, and he faded from sight. She blinked and looked again for him but there was no one else in the room and she realized she had been hallucinating.

Perhaps Juliette—Eve—had been right. Maybe she liked being the victim; having Nick take care of her. She had taken care of herself for so long, no one else that had cared what happened to her, and he was _so_ capable, that it a was relief to have him take that on, to want to assume that responsibility; look after her and their child. Perhaps they were both a bit codependent. One needing the other to fulfill their deep-seated emotional needs. To need and be needed.

She sighed again. Nick might not be able to help her at all. He may still be trying to figure out where she was. Or he might be busy trying to keep Kelly safe. He may not even have realized she was gone, and she recalled their behavior towards one another the last few days, the growing distance.

Or he may not be concerned with her at all, because Juliette had reentered his life and sent him reeling.

She sniffed and bit her lip.

She would have to figure it out herself, and she reminded herself she had been good at that at one time. Surely it was like riding a bike. Just because it had been a while since someone had held her captive in a dark, dank, dungeon-like room didn't mean you forgot everything you learned from that experience.

So, first: Determine where you are.

She had no idea, although she reasoned she was probably still within the same facility that she and Eve/Juliette had been trying to escape.

Second: Assess your status

Well, she was well and truly fucked, by her calculations.

Third: …

She couldn't remember what the third one was.

Okay. That was helpful.

She whirled and then fought to keep her balance when the door sounded loudly as it was unlocked and the man she vaguely recalled from the house—Sudcliffe-glided into the room, Louis right behind him. A beam of light suddenly invaded the room as well, and the combination of it and her sudden movement had her on her knees retching again.

Louis wrinkled his nose in distaste and Sudcliffe smiled.

"That is most unpleasant."

Adalind breathed slowly, trying to calm her stomach before she looked up. The light pained her eyes, and she had to look down again before she got sick.

"You'll be pleased to know that the little scheme Louis hatched has worked. The Grimm and his True Love are reunited once again," Sudcliffe announced, and Adalind felt her stomach roil.

"He was stunned, to be sure," Sudcliffe continued coming to stand beside her kneeled form, "But, well, I think they're going to work things out just fine, but you be the judge." She looked up, hair all around her face, and noticed Louis holding out his cell phone screen for her to look at it. She glanced warily at him and then the phone and she realized a video was playing. It looked like a security feed, and Adalind recognized Juliette when she stumbled into the camera eye.

She looked pretty bad, probably not too different from Adalind, judging by the way she felt. She was limping, and even from the quality of the feed, Adalind could see her face was swollen. She had taken some hits too, perhaps more than Adalind. She had an arm wrapped around her stomach protectively and she took a few more halting steps before stopping.

Nick appeared in the picture, and Adalind almost cried, recognizing his strong, determined stride and dark head. He halted abruptly, and Adalind could see Juliette's mouth move, could read Nick's name on her lips, before Juliette took another step and then stumbled into his arms. He stood there stunned for a long moment, not moving, and then slowly he wrapped his arms around her to support her weight, and then a moment later, he hesitantly put his nose in her hair. Adalind swallowed painfully, her heart aching cold in her chest.

She looked up at Louis, trying bravely to assume an air of indifference, but her heart and her head hurt too badly and she was still trying to process what she had seen.

"Now, I know you don't want to stand in the way of happiness, my dear, so here's your chance to bow out gracefully," Louis said, clicking off the screen. Adalind watched him carefully.

"I need the location of the Wall."

Adalind's eyebrow rose.

"I don't know where it is," she said.

"Ah, but you _do_ know where it is. The Grimm took you there, didn't he? We want to know everything you saw."

"I didn't see anything," and gasped when Louis smacked her hard across her cheek. Her eyes burned, and she thought hell if she gave him the satisfaction of seeing her cry, but damn that had hurt. She thought her cheekbone might be broken, and she touched trembling fingers to the inflammation.

"You really expect us to believe that."

"I didn't!" she said again. "You don't just waltz in there without going through security measures." She pressed her hand against her stinging cheek, trying to cool it.

"What measures? What did you see?"

Adalind licked her lips, trying to stall for a few seconds, get her mind to stop spinning so crazily. She had a hard time focusing on any one topic or thing. She had only ever been to Hadrian's Wall that one time, and she recalled that she and Nick had ridden as passengers in a windowless van, a good thirty-minute drive from where they had been told to meet their contact. When they had gotten out, they had then gone through a series of tunnels and passageways, most of it a dark blur, except for the few that clearly housed Wesen prisoners. She remembered those clearly and had wondered what Hadrian's Wall did to its occupants that resulted in Wesen like Eve.

Nick had taken her there against his better judgment; not that he didn't trust her, but that he didn't trust that the risk of doing so would outweigh the reward. He hadn't wanted her to talk to Meisner; be involved with this revolution they were on the cusp of. He tried so hard to keep his family shielded and safe, and most of the effort was destined to be wasted. He was who he was, she was who she formerly was, and they had a child together. She was tied to him no matter what precautions he took, and therefore they would always be vulnerable. That didn't mean she was going to betray Nick's faith in her by telling Louis anything. She set her mouth and tried not to let the heavy throb of her cheek and head sway her.

"I told you," Sudcliffe said to Louis.

Adalind snapped hers up at the two men.

"It's unfathomable. You _are_ in love with him," Louis marveled. "How utterly appalling. You used to be one of us."

"Used to be," she said. "I'm not anymore."

"He's a _Grimm_. He hunts down your kind."

"He's not so bad once you get to know him," Adalind replied thickly.

"Your loyalty to the Grimm is misplaced. He's already replaced you. Do you honestly think he wanted a child with you? A Hexenbiest? The Hexenbiest who destroyed his happiness?" Sudcliffe sneered.

She knew he hadn't wanted the situation she threw upon him, but he had dealt with it, the same way he always dealt with adversity: head on. He had dealt with it, she told herself again, and she knew he loved Kelly. Wouldn't change the fact he had a son, even if it was with her.

"Fortunately the rumor is the child is like him; I'm sure it makes your whole situation together easier to swallow, allows him to overlook the lesser traits his child could have inherited. That he might one day have to kill his child, same as his mother," Sudcliffe continued. "Can you imagine what he would do if the child were like you?"

Adalind stared blankly at him, trying to school her features. She had no idea what Nick would do if Kelly showed signs of hexenbiest, or zauberbiest more accurately, in him. Diana had displayed her powers in the womb, but she had been a special case, more powerful than a normal child wesen due to the circumstances in which Adalind had gotten her powers back. He had not seemed overly repulsed by Diana, from what she could recall of their few interactions together. More curious than anything. Maybe a little concerned when Diana had demonstrated her powers, but he appeared to either take his cue from his mother, or didn't feel a child warranted his Grimm attention. He never was fearful or hateful to the child. Just to her. And even then…he had been more tolerant than she had deserved. But then she _had_ put Juliette under that sleeping curse.

They were both fully aware that Kelly being a hexenbiest was a very real possibility, as real as he might be a Grimm, or a weird combination of the two. Nick had stuck with them regardless, but a little voice in her head wondered if they would be quite so chummy if he knew that she still had hexenbiest powers within her. Would he have allowed their relationship to progress as far as it did?

"Still, it does present another problem," Sudcliffe was saying. "What would we do with two Grimms? The boy can't be allowed to assume his destiny and his father must be held in check."

"If you so much as touch my son, I'll kill you myself!" she said menacingly.

Sudcliffe scoffed, and Louis smiled. "See, I think you can be persuaded to see reason. The child is hardly innocent. He's part Grimm. Who knows for sure if that's the part of him that will develop, but we can't afford to have him grow as powerful as his father. That doesn't mean he can't be useful, though."

She shook her head slowly, terrified of what he might be implying.

"Regardless, we should have him within the hour, and then we'll see where your loyalty truly lies."

%%%%%%%%

Oh my god, they were going to get Kelly. They had moved her from the cell, marching her through the corridors that she and Juliette had run through, so she was at least in the same place she had been. She didn't know where they were taking her, but it seemed she had walked quite a while, but maybe that was just the concussion.

What would they do with him? To him? Would she get to see him? He must be terrified, wondering where his mama or dada were to soothe and protect him. She wondered where Nick was, if he was closing in, and thought she couldn't afford to keep waiting on his rescue. If she was going to do something to save herself, and possibly her son, she needed to do it now.

She wondered what she _could_ do. She was human now, no special powers or abilities other than her own tenaciousness and whatever cheap shot she could manage. She hadn't fared well against a stronger opponent, but then that opponent had been Eve, and she was hardly typical. Perhaps against Louis or Sudcliffe she might manage to make an impact.

But Louis and Sudcliffe were Wesen. They could woge and that would be the end of that. She was no match for that, and she didn't know what type of wesen Sudcliffe was, but she didn't particularly want to find out he was one of the more brutish or ugly ones. That meant the element of surprise, but what could she do that would matter? Timing would be the key, she thought. She needed to wait. Doing something now, while she was still trapped in wherever this was wasn't going to help her. She'd just be right back in a cell again. If she was lucky. She needed out of this maze or building or floor or whatever.

They went up two flights of steps and then stepped out into an empty office floor. She felt tired from the climb and the walk, and she had started to fall a little behind. Sudcliffe walked behind them, while Louis led the parade. They paused when they reached an end of the space and Louis keyed in a code to a padlocked door. She heard the latch buzz, and then Sudcliffe moved around her to take the lead, pushing Adalind through the doorway into another corridor.

She fell forward, slumping suddenly against Louis so that he was forced to catch her. As soon as he grabbed her arms to keep her from hitting the ground, she snapped her head forward and smacked her head, hard, against his. He went down, and Adalind nearly did also.

Perhaps, when one was already concussed, that wasn't the wisest thing to do, then again, she was already concussed and probably going to die if she remained in their custody anyway, so what did it matter?

Sudcliffe turned and Adalind kicked him hard, aiming for anything that would connect, preferably right in the crotch, but missed that. She clipped his knee, instead, with a fairly crisp leg kick. He stumbled and went down on it, and she took the opportunity while she was still conscious to loop her bound hands around his neck and wrapped her body, and therefore her weight around him, using gravity to help choke him.

Sudcliffe gasped at the sudden pressure and stood. He tried to shake her off, and nearly succeeded, she held on tightly until she was the one seeing spots. She figured distantly in some corner of her brain that she probably didn't have much longer, and that she tightened her grip around him and hoped he passed out before she did. He started slumping forward, and Adalind removed her arms before she was trapped and used her weight and his momentum to slam his head into the ground.

His head bounced off the pavement with a crack, and she stumbled to her feet, feeling light-headed and woozy.

Louis was stirring a little and she kicked viciously at him again and almost went down, too much activity, nearly floating. _I can't pass out here._ She started creeping along, using whatever surfaces her fingers came in contact with to help her stay upright, sort of ricocheting and bouncing from surface to surface. She hit daylight and groaned, stopping to bend over and slide against the wall. Windows. She wasn't safe yet, but she just needed a moment, just a sec, and then maybe she could find cover and hide. She slid more, and then abruptly vomited, and then just wished she would pass out already.

She heard a noise, footsteps, and she groaned inwardly, telling herself she needed to move _now._ She started clumsily forward. She traced her fingertips along the wall, head throbbing so painfully it was difficult to see. She was almost to a corner when she heard the sound again, much closer and she tried to hurry her steps, but her feet felt like they were encased in cinderblocks. She rounded the corner and then she heard it: shouting.

She lost her balance trying to look back and see where Louis was at, and if Sudcliffe was with him, because while Louis was a snake, she was more worried about the unknown quantity that was Sudcliffe. Before she could catch herself she now realized a new threat had caught up in front of her.

"Police!"

"Freeze!"

She nearly sobbed in relief. She heard the footsteps again, and then a familiar voice.

"Adalind? Adalind!"

 _Nick_.

He had found her. This time she did sob, and then she heard a lot of voices, angry shouting for her to stop, put her hands up. She complied, shakily raising her arms, before Nick was there beside her, and then behind her, barking a warning that he would shoot. She sobbed harder and felt one of his legs brush against her.

"I said get your hands up!" and Adalind heard a lot of feet circle around him. "Louis Parker you're under arrest for kidnapping and assault," Nick said. "Wu, cuff him."

He reholstered his gun once Louis was secured, turning and dropping down to kneel by Adalind.

"Adalind," he murmured gathering her close, and she closed her eyes, allowing herself a few seconds—the feel of his solid warmth-when she felt Nick's arms around her.

"Where's Kelly?" she said, pushing away from him.

"He's okay," Nick said, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at her and his mouth set in a thin line.

"Where is he? I want to see him," she cried.

"Eve's got him," she heard Hank mutter joining Nick, also looking her over, and she recalled her appearance. He was probably noting her injuries, but she ignored him when he knelt and pressed his hand and a towel against the cut on her forehead which she discovered she had reopened when she had head-butted Louis. He produced a utility knife from his pocket and cut the ropes around her wrists. She vaguely noted they were red and raw. She looked wildly for her son. Her eyes narrowed in concern and then she saw him herself. Nick reluctantly stood back to allow the paramedics to move in, and she finally spied her son, held in the arms of his father's one great love.

Juliette was holding Kelly to her, cradled gently in her arms, chin brushing over her son's head, standing outside Nick and Hank's police cruiser.

"We're going to let the paramedics check you out," Nick told her. "Everything's going to be fine," he added, when a tear slipped out. "I think you need to go to the hospital." And Adalind started shaking her head, her eyes still locked on Kelly, and Juliette holding him. "Wu's going to take your statement. Hank and I have still got some things to do here to secure the scene, but I'll be with you shortly, okay?" he said and she nodded numbly, watching Juliette bounce Kelly lightly in her arms and place a kiss on his head.


	13. Chapter 13

AN: Winding down, folks. Only a few more chapters to go.

%%%%%%

When she awoke she was in a hospital bed. Her face felt funny, achy and like it didn't match up right or something. One eye didn't seem like it was working quite right either. She hurt. Everywhere. She listened to the machines beep as she tried to gather her bearings. She flexed her feet, and moved her hands and arms a little, noting when she encountered some resistance that both wrists were bandaged, and she continued taking stock of any twinges of pain she felt there, but the face and her head seemed like it was the worst of it. She expanded her inventory to the contents of the room and found it empty of any other people. She spied a coat folded over one of the visitor chairs, but no other clues as to its owner. She sat up too quickly and then almost passed out. She felt a little shaky when she tried it again, but she kept going, breathing hard through her nose as she worked through the pain.

"What are you doing? Stop that!"

Adalind looked up at Rosalee's concerned face. She had never been so glad to see her friend in her life.

"I'm okay," Adalind replied stubbornly and kept at it until Rosalee stopped her. She came to stand by the bedrail and placed gentle hands on Adalind's shoulders to impede any more progress.

"You need to lie back. You've got a pretty good concussion."

Well, that explained the headache then, and then she remembered she had kind of figured that when she was Louis' captive anyway.

"I need to see Kelly. Where's Nick?"

"He's still at the station tied up with the case. There's been some interesting developments apparently," Rosalee said. "Kelly's fine, you don't have to worry about him."

"Where is he?"

"He's with Nick, at the station."

"I want to see him," Adalind said, moving as if to get out of bed again.

"You need to rest. You took some pretty good blows to the face. Your cheekbone is fractured," Rosalee said unsteadily, "The doctor is really concerned about you." She turned when Monroe entered the room.

"Hey, you're awake! Nick will be happy," he said.

"I need you to take me to the station," Adalind said to Monroe, and he frowned and looked at Rosalee confusedly.

"I think you're supposed to stay here until the doctor gets another chance to check you out."

"That's not necessary. I'm fine."

"Uhh…pretty sure you're not fine. Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Monroe replied and then ducked his head when Rosalee gave him a sharp look.

"I'm okay. I want to see my son!" Adalind said again, looking around for her clothes.

"Okay, okay," Monroe said, holding out both hands to calm her. "We'll take you to the station to see Kelly, just as soon as the doctor says it's okay," exchanging another look with Rosalee.

Adalind flashed Monroe an angry look. "Where are my clothes?"

"They cut them off you. You don't remember anything? You passed out on the way to the hospital, but I don't think you would have wanted them anyway. They were covered in…in blood and vomit," and Adalind closed her eyes, remembering being her time with Louis and Sudcliffe.

"I'll bring you some things from home," Rosalee said.

"Or I can go get it," Monroe offered, and Rosalee fixed him with a grateful smile. Adalind nodded and Monroe grabbed his coat from the chair.

"Who's looking after Kelly at the station?" she asked suddenly, a thought occurring to her. "If Nick's busy with the investigation. Who's watching him?"

Rosalee and Monroe exchanged glances, and Adalind narrowed her eyes as best she could under the circumstances.

"Uhh, I'm not sure," Monroe hedged.

"So how do you know he's okay?" Adalind asked sharply, and winced because talking affected her cheekbone and it hurt.

"He's at a police station," Monroe replied. "What could happen to him there?"

"He's a baby!" Adalind snapped. "Somebody needs to watch him. Who's taking care of him?"

Monroe and Rosalee exchanged another glance, and Monroe shook his head slightly at Rosalee before she turned her attention back to Adalind and said, "Juliette. I think Juliette is watching him." She tried to smile at Adalind reassuringly, but it came off more as an apprehensive and apologetic.

"Eve. You mean Eve," Adalind said unsteadily.

"No, I mean Juliette," Rosalee said quietly. Adalind glanced at Monroe who looked very uncomfortable.

"So it did work, the toxin," Adalind said dully, leaning back against her bed pillow. She was Juliette again. Well, she had seen the evidence herself. Everything that Nick had ever wanted and dreamed of, handed back to him, plus or minus a son born from a former hexenbiest. She felt tears pooling and she thought, _I'm so damn tired_.

"I don't know how," Rosalee retorted. "I mean, we tried everything. Yours was the only way we knew of that might work, to bring Juliette back to herself, and it got destroyed."

Perhaps they had some other way to re-administer that recipe, Adalind mused. She wouldn't have thought just a shot of it would suppress the hexenbiest in Juliette; she was much more powerful and the circumstances surrounding how she had gotten her powers anyway meant that it was nearly impossible to lose them than someone who had been born with them.

"She's definitely Juliette again," Adalind said, biting her lip.

"Looks like," Monroe said.

"You get your friend back," Adalind told Rosalee, trying to be positive but the only thing she could focus on was Rosalee got her friend back and Adalind would lose all hers. And more importantly, Nick. She would lose Nick.

She was never enough. Yes, he might have some feelings for her. She was the mother of his child. She had lived with him for nearly a year and a half now in tight quarters. They had survived some pretty grim and trying circumstances together, but she wasn't Juliette, whom he had loved utterly and completely before it had all been taken away from him.

"Adalind," Rosalee said, placing her hand on her arm, and Adalind just nodded.

"It's okay. I'm okay," she managed in a whisper. "It's good. Really," she added when Monroe and Rosalee didn't seem to be convinced.

"We don't know what's happened; what's going on," Rosalee reminded her, and Adalind nodded again. But she knew. She had seen it.

"I really just want to see my son," she said again, and her lips twisted before she could stop them, recalling the last image she had had of Kelly, curled against Juliette as she held him to her.

Monroe nodded. "Okay, I'll bring you something, just tell me where it is."

Adalind managed a grateful smile; it wasn't his fault after all. She had no one to blame but herself for the predicament she found herself in now, and she would have to suffer the consequences of everything she had done. Rosalee patted her hand, worried eyes watching her closely.

"You might want to go with him. I don't know if he'll know where everything's at," Adalind told Rosalee, settling back. "How long until the doctor comes to see me?"

"She's supposed to be making her rounds in another hour or so," Rosalee replied.

"Then we can go after that?"

"If she says it's okay," Monroe cautioned.

"Right."

She gave Monroe and Rosalee instructions for her clothes and then watched them gather their things and leave. She felt exhausted, was sure she looked it, and therefore made a convincing picture of a convalescing hospital patient. She gave another tired smile to Rosalee when she paused at the door and then counted to one hundred after they had left.

She pressed the call nurse button at fifty and threw back the covers. She inched her way to the edge of the bed, mindful this time of the pain, and managed to get her feet to the floor by the time the nurse responded.

"Miss Schade! You're not supposed to be up until you see the doctor."

"Then you better get her, because I'm checking out of here."

"Miss Schade," The nurse said sternly, and Adalind rounded on her. "You cannot leave. You have a fractured cheekbone—" well, she had thought it was broken when Louis had smacked her, so she had called that, she thought to herself, "a concussion, two bruised ribs, and abrasions on your wrists. You need to _lie down."_

"Get the doctor. I'm not staying here another minute. Or you know what, don't get the doctor. Either way I'm leaving. Do you have some clothes?"

"Your clothes were destroyed," the nurse said primly. "They were cut off you once you arrived."

"Do you have any other clothes? Scrubs? Lost and found?" Adalind replied bitchily.

"If you leave it will be against medical advice," the nurse said, trying a different tack.

"I know," Adalind replied, "I'm a lawyer, I know the whole deal. I'll need to sign AMA papers. Better get those ready too."

Adalind made it to her feet and stood, wincing when she put weight on her right leg. Right. The one she had tried to kick the door in with. And had kicked Louis and Sudcliffe with, too. She started pulling IVs and monitors from her body, making them scream and wail, and the nurse hurried around her to shut them off. Adalind used the change in position to move away from the nurse, and the bed, and hobbled to the cabinets and started opening them.

"What are you doing?" The nurse exclaimed, and Adalind shut one set and opened another.

"Scrubs. Clothes," she reminded and then sighed disgustedly. "And weren't you supposed to getting those papers," Adalind added, hobbling to the next set.

"I'm getting the doctor," The nurse replied haughtily. She stalked out of the room, and Adalind breathed a sigh of relief. Holy Fuck did she hurt. The bruised ribs were agony, perhaps even more so than the face. She hopped across the room, trying to limit the amount of weight on her leg and stood in front of a mirror, and then promptly whirled away from it. _So that's what you looked like when someone beat the shit out of you._ No wonder she had been getting worried looks from everybody. She bit her lip and then hobbled out of her hospital room into the corridor. She looked around, and spotted her nurse talking to a short, stocky woman in a white lab coat. Her doctor she presumed. She looked along the wall, at the various carts and trolleys, and then spotted one with what appeared to be hospital linens. She made her way painfully to it and then pillaged through until she found the stack she was looking for. Ugly green hospital scrubs, but they would do, and she wasn't going to wait for Rosalee and Monroe to come back with something better. They would only side with the doctor, and judging from the nurse's response, she wasn't going to recommend Adalind leave.

She turned with her prize, and noticed the doctor and nurse looking her way, and she quickly hobbled back into her room and into the bathroom and shut and locked the door. Dressing was an excruciating affair, and she had only just managed to bend down to pull up the scrub pants when the knock came at the door.

"Miss Schade? Miss Schade," a new voice said, her doctor's she figured.

"In a minute," she called, a bit breathlessly, and then closed her eyes as she grabbed hold of the waistband and stood slowly back up, drawing them with her. She leaned against the sink for a few seconds, willing the pain to stop, and at least trying to breathe through it.

"Miss Schade, unlock the door." There was a pause in which Adalind used the time to steel herself for the next part of getting dressed: the top.

"Miss Schade, I'm Dr. Whittlier. You cannot leave the hospital in your present condition," Dr. Whittlier said, and Adalind resurrected what little Lamaze she knew and had practiced and used it to help her put her shirt on.

"Actually, I can," Adalind replied, still puffing. "It's called signing out AMA. Did your nurse get the paperwork?"

"Miss Schade, will you please unlock the door? I don't think you understand the severity of your injuries."

 _Ohhhh, but she did_ , she thought, panting.

"Just a minute," she called again, and took another minute to try to adjust to the pain now that she was moving around. She turned and unlocked the door, pasting on a bright smile, but even she could tell from the reflection in the mirror she was too pale and sweaty to be convincing.

"What do you think you're doing?" Dr. Whittlier said flatly, and Adalind immediately discerned she was one of those no-nonsense, no bedside manner types.

"I'm going to see my son," Adalind said.

"You're in no condition to care for anyone, least of all yourself. You need to lie down."

"I'm going to see my son," Adalind replied a bit more forcefully.

Dr. Whittlier crossed her arms. "You've had serious head and facial injuries, not to mention a concussion, you need to take it easy."

"I will take it easy when I see my son," Adalind snapped.

"Uhhh, is there a problem here?"

Dr. Whittlier, the nurse, and Adalind turned to the doorway.

"Who are you?" Whittlier demanded.

"My ride," Adalind replied, as Wu said, "Sergeant Wu with the Portland police department. I'm here to take Ms. Schade's statement."

"Under no circumstances am I recommending she leave this hospital," Whittlier said to Wu. Wu looked confused.

"I'm just going to get her statement right he—"

"No, you're not. You're taking me to the precinct. I want to see Kelly," Adalind cut in, and Wu raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"It doesn't sound like—" Wu began, pointing to Adalind's doctor, but Adalind cut him off again. "I understand I am leaving against your medical advice," Adalind stated, looking at the doctor, and ignored Wu's " _What?!"_

"However, I insist on leaving right now. Now I can sign paperwork or I can just go, but either way I'm walking out of here with the sergeant in five minutes."

She stared defiantly at Whittlier who gave her a hard look of her own.

"Ashley," Whittlier said, and the nurse looked at her, "Get Miss Schade the paperwork."

"What? Wait, whoa—" Wu said, and Adalind silenced him with a look.

"I'll be with you shortly," she told Wu and turned her attention back to her doctor. Wu huffed a sigh loudly and stepped out into the hall.

Ten minutes later she was seated in the front seat of his cruiser after an arduous journey out of the hospital. Adalind wanted so badly to lay her head against the glass and sleep, but she had strict instructions from Whittlier, and she knew any sign of injury or illness and Wu would turn the car right back around.

"Nick is going to be pissed," Wu muttered, and Adalind couldn't find it in herself to care. She would see him soon enough anyway.


	14. Chapter 14

AN: Rest assured I am trying to hurry these updates along too, as one: Grimm comes back Friday (YAY!) and I'm trying to decide if I want this story finished up before then, and two: I have a couple of other fluff pieces/snippets and one-shots I've been dying to post, but they sort of reference the story here.

Three: you might all be getting grimmed out on my stories, so also trying not to clog the pipeline so to speak. Sorry, been a while since I've had this much inclination and inspiration to write, so just trying to go with the flow and take advantage of it while it's happening.

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"What the hell are you doing here?!"

Adalind sighed.

"Nice to see you too, Sean," she replied sarcastically. She had allowed Wu to escort her in, and he was hovering carefully, one arm lightly gripping her bicep as she maneuvered slowly through the building.

"Are you all right?" he asked, and she would have been touched by the concern she saw there in his eyes if she wasn't so annoyed by it.

"Yes," she said.

"No," Wu retorted. "She signed out AMA," he told Sean and Adalind glared at him.

"Does Nick know?" Sean asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No, not yet," Adalind said a bit snippily. She was starting to understand why everyone was so against her leaving medical care. She really wasn't feeling all that great, but she had come this far, and the hell if she was going to admit defeat. She would just have to see it through.

"Then why are you here?"

"I want," she said with clenched teeth, and then nodded her thanks when Wu presented a chair for her, "To see my son." She finished glaring up at Sean, who stared back in concern. He was looking her carefully over, eyes running over the various bruises and cuts, and if she had more energy she might feel the vain worry that she may have scarred her face. She had noticed she had elicited several looks from the other officers. Fortunately, though, that concern hadn't fully surfaced yet.

And okay, a woman who looked like she fell down an elevator shaft, dressed in hospital scrubs and Wu's police uniform jacket probably did merit a second look.

"Where is he?" she asked Sean.

Sean looked up at Wu. "Did you get her statement?"

"No, what you see is what I got," Wu replied, and Sean nodded.

"Nick's going to be pissed," he told them both, and Adalind rolled her eyes. "You should be in a hospital."

"Well, I'm not, and I want to see Kelly." She demanded, glaring at Sean. Sean stared at her for a moment and then nodded. He looked at Wu.

"Take her statement and I'll have someone bring her to her son," he commanded, and Wu nodded. He grabbed another chair from a nearby desk and then flipped open his notepad.

%%%%%%%

By the time she had finished she had given her statement twice, once to Wu, and then again to Sean who had listened with growing concern as she elaborated what was apparently the last two days' worth of events. She was quite agitated when she was explaining it the second time, interrupting her narrative to ask Sean where Kelly was. She finally finished, and Sean sat back in the chair he had appropriated, and looked at her.

"It's amazing that you made it out," he said, and Adalind replied tiredly. "I just want to see my son."

Sean nodded and made a motion with his hand, and she turned her head in that direction to see an officer nod in response.

"Is he—should I—Kelly?" she asked, indicating should she follow. Sean shrugged and nodded and Adalind limped after him, realizing that they were walking towards the interrogation rooms. She frowned but followed the officer into the observation portion. She halted abruptly when she saw Kelly, through the one-way glass, seated in Juliette's lap.

He looked tired and fussy. He didn't know Juliette, was probably worried his father wasn't with him, or someone he was familiar with. The generally tense atmosphere of this part of the police station probably unnerved him, too.

She was struck once again by how much he looked just like Nick, and knew by Juliette's protective behavior that she saw it too.

She felt her heart seize, wanted to run in there and rip her baby away from _her. S_ he might be able to one day resolve herself to losing Nick, since he never really was hers to begin with, but she wasn't going to lose her son, not to Juliette.

The officer left Adalind's side and stepped into the interrogation room and Juliette looked up. She had clearly been crying, eyes red and puffy, and she listened without expression to the officer, before looking down at Kelly with a slow nod. After a long moment, she hesitantly picked him up and held him out to the officer, one last touch to Kelly's sock covered foot, before he was taken away from her.

The officer carried her son back into the observation portion, closing the door behind him. Kelly spotted his mother immediately, a plaintive and unsure "Mama?" Adalind felt her bravado fade and she almost broke down, so relieved to see him alive and unharmed.

"Hey, Kell-bell," she managed to sing song, but then couldn't force anything more past her throat. She took him and held him tightly to her, swaying a little as she rocked him gently in her arms. His added weight to her injuries hurt, especially her ribs, but she wasn't about to set him down any time soon.

"Mama?" he said again, and Adalind knew he must be wondering what was going on, why did she look like that. She was reminded how bad she must look, and she pressed him closer, wincing when it stung against her face. She winced again when he reached out a chubby arm to pat against her cheek, the innocent curiosity of an infant exploring the confusing sight. She bore it as best she could, telling herself that it wasn't too long ago that she wondered if she would even see him again. She pressed a kiss against his cheek and rocked him some more, more in an effort to stay moving and upright, gestures that somehow seemed critical to her maintaining some semblance of normality, than to soothe her son.

"It's okay, mama's here," she said quietly. She glanced up and saw Juliette through the glass, looking as though she could see her through the mirror. She looked down again, disturbed by what she saw there in Juliette's face, and began a slow shuffle out of the room, the officer who had taken her to Kelly, holding the door open for her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Kelly swiveled his head excitedly and pressed his arm against her shoulder and rib. She gasped as he recognized his father's voice immediately ("Dada!"), and Adalind sighed and turned more slowly, not that she could move any quicker if she wanted to. Kelly really hurt against her bruised ribs, and she tried not to let on how much pain she was in.

"I wanted to see my son," she said.

"You're supposed to be in the hospital," Nick replied heatedly. "I just got a call from Rosalee and Monroe wondering where you are at? Apparently they left to bring you some things and when they came back you were gone! They're worried about you."

Oh, right. Rosalee and Monroe.

"And then Wu comes and tells me you're here at the station, that you strong-armed him into taking you here, and that you've checked yourself out AMA?" he finally exploded, and Kelly began to fret nervously, rarely treated to the sight of seeing his father so volatile. And he was tightly wound, Adalind could see, edgy and dangerous and darkness simmering just under the surface.

She patted Kelly's back comfortingly, whispered a few words of consolation to her baby.

"Quiet," Adalind admonished Nick, and it was like poking the bear, his eyes widened dangerously and his nostrils flared. "You'll scare Kelly."

"You scared the hell out of me!" Nick yelled and then quieted, eyes darting to Kelly, when Kelly turned away with a whimper, and then around the area, where he had attracted some attention. Adalind glared again and then rocked Kelly, bouncing him up and down a little, and then felt her face go white when it jarred her ribs.

"Here," Nick said, jerking forward to grab Kelly from her and whisk him away.

"No!" Adalind replied, not wanting to lose her hold on her child, but unable to react as quickly as Nick to prevent him.

"Adalind, sit down," Nick commanded quietly. "Before you fall down," he added with some bite, and Adalind blinked back tears and the urge to kick him. He shifted Kelly to one arm and pointed to a bench along the wall and stared her down until she took it. He handed Kelly back to her once she was settled and stood in front of her and his son, before kneeling down to their level with a sigh.

Adalind ignored him and pulled Kelly tight against her, burying her head in his ashy brown/blonde locks. She thought it might help to hide her tears, but Nick touched her face gently and she knew it wasn't working. She squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment and felt Kelly move his head to look up.

Nick brushed his thumb, feather light over her fractured cheekbone—a simple one—apparently, but it still throbbed painfully at his touch. She was unable to hide the wince, and he pulled his hand away, gliding over and resting on her knee, before pulling his arm away altogether.

"You need to be in the hospital," Nick said in a much quieter voice. Kelly looked at him suspiciously as though he might still erupt at any moment. Nick offered a weak smile to his son and touched his chubby arm.

"I need to be with my son," Adalind countered, and Nick sighed again. "I'm not leaving here without him," she added. He nodded after a moment, and she relaxed just a little. He traced his finger down Kelly's arm, where Kelly gripped it tightly in his hand, pulling on it with a shriek. It was some weird game or activity they had, some test of strength or resistance, Adalind wasn't sure, nor was she sure what the amusement was, but Nick managed a tiny, more natural smile. He touched the shiny black sateen edges of her coat running his fingers over the fur, and she realized with a start that she was still wearing Wu's heavy police jacket.

"The doctor said you have a concussion. You shouldn't be by yourself for the next twenty-four hours. I still have some stuff to finish up," Nick told her, and Adalind nodded and tried to shrug indifferently. Obviously he had been in contact with her doctor, or perhaps Wu told him. "Have you given your statement?" he asked, and she nodded, staring at the wall opposite her, where behind it was the observation room to the interrogation room Juliette was in.

"Nick. We've got Parker," Wu said, striding down the hall, and Nick stood up, shifted subtly so that part of her view was obstructed.

A moment later, she saw Louis shackled and man-handled by three guards. He spotted Nick, and then he spotted her, and Nick moved entirely to block her view and said, "Put him in interrogation room one. I'll be there in a minute." He watched them take Louis out of sight and Adalind noticed Nick relax his hand away from his holster once he was gone.

"Did they find Sudcliffe?" Adalind asked suddenly, and he turned to her with a frown.

"Sudcliffe?"

"Yeah, there was another guy with him. Sudcliffe. He was at the house and then he was at the … the wherever I was," she said, remembering and Nick knelt down again.

"Sudcliffe. The house where you talked to me on the phone?" he asked. "Where I told you to stay?"

"Yeah. He was one of the guys. There were two others…I don't know what happened to them. I mean, other than Eve," she said, and then wished she hadn't said the name. There it was. Eve. Juliette. "She showed up and took care of the goon squad and then she left. I thought it might be better that I stayed with her. I wanted her to take me to Kelly." Adalind said. "She took me to Bentley and Anderson's, though I'm not sure why. She said it was owned by Black Claw."

Nick frowned. "And this guy, he was at Praxton's?" Nick said.

"Praxton's? Is that where we were?" Adalind asked, looking up. Praxton's was a large IT company about ten blocks from her office. "Is that where you found me?"

Nick stared at her a moment. "Yeah, that's where I found you. This guy, Sudcliffe, was there?"

"Yeah," Adalind said, "You didn't find his body?"

"He's dead?" Nick asked, looking more sharply at her.

"I-I think so. Maybe. I don't know," she replied, trying to think. "He fell, and hit his head. I mean I was choking him, and he passed out, and I remember his head hit the ground really hard. How did you find me then? Did you know that's where I was?"

Nick stared at her, an unreadable expression on his face and nodded after a moment. "Yeah. Juliette led us right to you," he said, and Adalind swallowed. Juliette. His uttering the name seemed more significant now. For months now he had accepted that she was Eve, referred to her only by that name, and now, within the span of two days, she was Juliette again.

"How?"

Nick shook his head. "I'm not really sure. Fought them off and managed to get out. She showed up in the parking garage at the station. I couldn't believe it." He trailed off for a moment and then resumed speaking after clearing his throat. "We had found your keys in the garage at your office, but we didn't know where they took you from there, until Juliette showed up and filled in the blanks. Told us she thought she might be able to show us where you were. Took a little bit, but we figured it out."

Adalind nodded.

"But there was another guy," he said, to be sure, and she nodded again. "We didn't recover any bodies, at either crime scene," Nick added.

"That means Sudcliffe's at large," Adalind murmured, and Nick nodded again after a moment.

"They were coming after Kelly," she said, nuzzling her son's head. Nick looked at him, running his fingers lightly over Kelly's head.

Nick nodded and then snorted. "They tried. It turns out that daycare does have pretty state of the art security."

Adalind looked up.

"They never even got close. He was okay, and Trubel was near him the whole time."

"Trubel?"

"Yeah, she's been _volunteering_ the last few weeks at his center, under the guise of a child behavior psychology student," and here Nick grinned a little bit.

"What?"

"I'll explain more later," Nick said, looking up when Hank appeared a few feet away. Hank frowned in concern at Adalind, flashing Nick a questioning look.

"Should you be here?" Hank asked looking at her.

"No," Nick replied before Adalind could. He turned to her. "I don't want you going home alone. Stay here at the station. I'll take you home when I'm finished. You should be around some people anyway. I might be another couple of hours," Nick said. "If you get tired, I'll have Wu or someone take you someplace safe and wait with you."

Someplace safe. Did that exist for them?

She nodded, breathing in Kelly's sweet baby smell. He swiveled his head and looked at his father, and Nick flashed him one more brief smile. "Officer Oswald will take you back to my desk. You can wait there, or in Renard's office."

Adalind looked up at the officer in question, the same one that had taken her to Kelly, and nodded. "I can find it myself. I know where they are."

"You will not let her out of your sight," he said to Oswald, ignoring her.

"Yes sir," the officer affirmed, and Nick moved to Hank.

"I'll see you in a bit," Nick said, and Adalind nodded, watching he and Hank stride purposefully into interrogation one.

"Ready, ma'am?" Oswald said, and she looked up.

"Actually, could I-could I just sit here for a minute? Please?" she said, when she saw Oswald hesitate. He nodded after a moment and Adalind breathed a sigh of relief. Kelly was calming down, too, though he was chattering his baby speak quietly to himself. She felt like lying down on the bench and sleeping for the next ten years, but that was strictly forbidden in the notes Whittlier had outlined in harsh tones for her as she was signing out of the hospital.

She pressed her good, relatively speaking, cheek against Kelly's head, and listened to him breathe. She glanced up when Sean walked near, on his way to the interrogation room Nick and Hank had disappeared in with Louis, and he gave her a startled look.

"You haven't gone home yet?" he said.

"Nick wants me to wait until he can take me home," Adalind replied, and Kelly looked at Sean alertly.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"I'm not supposed to sleep for more than a couple hours at a time. Concussion. Someone's supposed to wake me."

"That didn't answer my question."

"I don't know," she said, in a small voice.

"Why don't you use the couch in my office and take a nap. I'll make sure someone wakes you."

"I'm not leaving Kelly."

"You can take him with you," Sean said, and Adalind looked up at him. "He'll be all right," Sean insisted. "No one will take him from you."

She stared a long moment at him, and then nodded slowly. Sleep sounded so good; just to close her eyes. Kelly was probably due for a nap, too. She stood slowly, taking a moment to steel herself and then slowly followed Officer Oswald back into the bullpen of the precinct. Her ribs ached and she wanted desperately to put Kelly down, but she locked her arms and kept him firmly against her, all the way to Sean's office. She smiled gratefully at the officer when he offered her a blanket, and then slowly lowered herself down on the cushions. They were leather, and not really all the comfortable, but it felt glorious nonetheless. She tucked Kelly between the seatback and her, and she was right when he didn't fight her on the quiet time. She watched him try to keep himself awake, and fell asleep sometime before he did.

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I live for reviews, feedback, the good and the bad.


	15. Chapter 15

AN: Two more chapters, and you get a reprieve from me.

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She awoke with a start and a gasp, the officer who had been shaking her stepping back suddenly. It wasn't Oswald, she could see.

"Sorry, ma'am. The captain asked me to wake you," she said. Adalind nodded, and looked at Kelly. He was still sleeping soundly beside her. The officer left, leaving Sean's door slightly ajar, and Adalind stretched slowly and promptly regretted it. She painfully sat up, swiveling to drop her feet to the floor, as Kelly snoozed on. She tucked him in carefully, fashioning the blanket around him so he wouldn't fall off the couch, and then stood. She closed the door carefully behind her, and spotted Oswald across the bullpen. He stood up and approached and she asked him to watch the office while she tended to business.

Lying down had been a bad idea, because every bone in her body now hurt, and every muscle was stiff. She moved jerkily, as though her joints were badly in need of oil, and slipped out into the corridor of the brightly lit police station. Her face was stiff and sore, so the reassuring smiles she tried to give to various patrons who looked startled at her appearance probably didn't come off as well as she meant them too. She drifted over to Nick's desk, before realizing he wasn't at it and changed course, proceeding further into the station where she had been earlier.

She brightened when she heard his voice, low but distinctive and hoped that meant his interrogation was over and they might soon be able to go home. She heard another voice and paused, head tilting as she tried to place it. She didn't want to bother him if he was still talking with another officer, and she dawdled around the corner, hoping he was at the tail end of whatever he was saying or doing.

"Nick, please, listen to me," she heard, and her heart plummeted. She recognized that voice.

"Juliette," Nick sighed, and Juliette said something low and teary and difficult to make out. Adalind peered around the corner, unaware she was even doing so and spied Nick with his back to her, and Juliette, facing him with both hands cupping his face. They were the only ones in the area, well, besides her, and they were standing very close to one another. Nick said something too low for her to hear, pulling Juliette's hands from his face, but he didn't let go of them. Instead, he held them between them, and said something else Adalind couldn't hear, but whatever it was the meaning was clear. Juliette freed her hands and replaced them around his face and leaned forward and kissed Nick deeply, and Adalind jerked away from the corridor and took several steps backwards, her mind refusing to process what she had just seen.

She moved slowly, automatically, and turned back to the bullpen, drifting all the way over to Nick's desk this time. Hank was nowhere to be seen, Wu, either, no one she was familiar with.

She found her cracked phone on Nick's desk, surprisingly on and lit up, and Kelly's diaper bag underneath and gathered them up. She took off Wu's police jacket that she was still wearing and laid it over Nick's desk. She wasn't sure which workstation was Wu's but Nick would see he got his coat back.

She jumped when someone said, "I think Detective Burkhardt will be out in little bit, ma'am." Oswald was standing next to her.

She managed a small smile of thanks and swung the diaper bag over her shoulder. She felt cold. Perhaps from what she had just witnessed or the thin material of the scrubs now that she was no longer blanketed with Wu's thick coat. She tucked her phone in one of the pockets of the bag and quickly, as much as her wrecked body would allow her, grabbed Kelly from Sean's office. She smiled at Oswald and indicated what she hoped was a gesture for bathroom/diaper change. He started to follow, and she shook her head.

"That's okay," she said, "we should just be a minute," she told him, indicating the diaper bag. "It's just right outside," and Oswald nodded after a second. She tucked Kelly under her chin and slipped out into the main hallway where the public restrooms were located, veering off into one when she realized Oswald was still watching her. She counted to ten and then peered through the crack of the restroom door. Oswald had turned his head away, and was conferring with another officer and she slipped out, waiting to hear a cry of discovery, but it never came. Kelly slept on and Adalind slipped out of the precinct. She walked around the corner and then down the block and hailed the first cab she saw.

%%%%%

If she hurried she could gather a few of her and Kelly's things. She'd leave him a note, she decided. She'd take Kelly and her to a hotel until she got settled, and then she bit her lip until it almost bled. She was going to take his child away from him, but just for a little bit. A day or two, where she could get herself under control again and see what she needed to do. She could use the time to hammer out a custody agreement, she thought, one that was generous and respectful and mindful of all that Nick had done for them. The thought of sharing him like that, though, burned. She wouldn't get to see her boys together, Kelly fresh from a bath and Nick covered in water, too, or Nick laughing at their son as he squealed in delight as they played at the park. The soft look Nick gave her as she rocked Kelly to sleep, or the smiles of delight on both father and son whenever they saw each other after a long time apart. Nick trying to teach Kelly to walk in their loft after a long day at work, but nevertheless holding both of Kelly's hands, a proud little smile on his face while he helped shuffle Kelly over to her, where she had waited with outstretched arms to embrace both of them.

Juliette would see all that now, and she choked back tears. This was the right decision. She wasn't going to stand in the way and she wasn't going to make him choose.

She bowed her head and allowed a few tears to fall, letting her hair fall around her hiding her face. He had done more for her and with her than she had ever deserved. She owed it to him to allow him this piece of happiness back. Loved him too much to see him unhappy and stuck in a relationship with her out of kindness, or duty bound to her. They would make it work for Kelly and she wouldn't make him feel torn or regretful.

Nick and Juliette would share memories now with his son, but not her. She would have to forge some new ones alone. She pulled a bag from her closet and took it into Kelly's room and started throwing clothes and toys into it.

"Adalind?" She closed her eyes, muttering a silent curse.

Trubel.

"Hey what are you doing back? Nick was really worried about you. Holy crap!" she exploded when she saw Adalind's face. "You look like a building fell on your face."

"Sorta," Adalind muttered, thinking it wasn't far from the truth with how many times she came in contact with the floor or walls, or doors.

"You all right?" Trubel asked hesitantly, and Adalind managed a nod, avoiding her eyes.

"I thought you were at the police station with Nick. Monroe and Rosalee were looking for you. Are you going somewhere?" she asked, watching Adalind stuff a few more things into the bag.

"I'm going to take Kelly and stay in a hotel, just for a few days," she said, adding some diapers and George to the bag. "Just to be safe," she added.

"Ohh-kay," Trubel said, clearly not buying it. "You know you're safe, right. Nick's got Louis in custody, and he told me about that Sudcliffe guy. I think Meisner knows where he is. He won't harm you. And I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you or Kelly," Trubel added.

Adalind looked up, reminded of what Nick told her, that Trubel had found an excuse to hang around Kelly's daycare all day for the last few weeks in order to make sure he was safe, and she found her eyes welling with tears once again, this time in gratitude.

"I know what you did for Kelly," Adalind said, and Trubel's eyes darted away, but not fast enough. "Thank you," Adalind added.

Trubel shrugged, but she accepted the thanks with a small nod. "It's what Nick would have wanted," she said, and Adalind nodded. She understood now, how he inspired that kind of loyalty and gratitude. Trubel looked at the bag Adalind had in her hands, sloppily stuffed with clothes and baby articles, and then back into Adalind's eyes.

"You're safe," she told Adalind again and Adalind shook her head.

"I can't stay here," she said.

"Why?"

"Look, just tell Nick that Kelly and I will be fine. I'll get in touch with him when we get settled in."

"Why can't you tell Nick that?"

Adalind just shook her head unable to say it out loud.

"Oh my god, you're leaving him? Why?" and Adalind tried for a small, dismissive smile before Trubel blew it apart with her next question. "Is this because of Juliette?"

She had always been so perceptive of Adalind and her relationship with Nick. Knew before Adalind really did how she felt about the man who fathered a baby with her and then stepped up to take care of it and her.

"I know what he and Juliette had, and my part in that. It's good for him," she insisted, and made the mistake of looking at Trubel. Her eyes were the softest she'd ever seen them look at Adalind, nearly compassionate, and Adalind broke down.

"Adalind, you can't just walk away from Nick. He really cares about you," she said, and Adalind shook her head again.

"I know he does, but this is what he's always wanted, you know that, and I'm not going to kid myself, or wait around for him to come to the realization that he doesn't really love me. Or that he doesn't love me as much as he does her. He has a chance again with Juliette, and he should take it. Kelly and I will just stay in a hotel for a few days and we can figure something out."

"You can't just take Nick's kid away from him," Trubel said, and Adalind jerked her head away, heart aching. That wasn't what she was trying to do, and that's probably how everyone would see it, but she just couldn't stay here—she needed to get away, she needed to get herself back under control again, and she couldn't do that if she stayed here in the home she helped create with him. She thought about leaving Kelly here with Trubel, but after everything she'd been through in the last forty-eight hours she couldn't bear to let him out of her sight.

"Please. Tell him we're fine, and that I'll be in touch with him about Kelly. I'm not taking him away from his dad, I promise. I just need to figure out...how we're going to handle all of this. Just...give me this, will you."

Trubel stared at her for a long moment and nodded, and she zipped up Kelly's bag and walked past her, gathering Kelly.

"If I find out you lied to me, I'll hunt you down myself," Trubel threatened.

"You won't have to, but fair enough," Adalind replied.

"At least tell me where you're going?" Trubel called as Adalind stepped onto the elevator, and Adalind paused.

"The Luxe Hotel," she said and then she was out the door.

%%%%%%

 _Adalind? Adalind, Call me._

 _You're not at the station? Where are you?_

 _I'm home and you and Kelly aren't here. I'm worried about you. Call me as soon as you get this._

 _You're not supposed to be alone with a concussion! Where are you?_

 _Adalind? I just spoke to Trubel. You're not at the Luxe. Where are you? I need to speak with you right now._

 _Adalind, answer your phone dammit!_

Most of the buttons on the screen didn't work, but she found she could still use voice commands to work her phone. She had deleted the messages from Nick and turned off the phone after that, exhausted. She fell in a restless sleep, setting her alarm to go off every two hours, and hoping for the best. She had asked the young man at the front desk to phone her every two hours and to come check on her if she didn't answer. He had looked at her, her beat up face, and bandages around her wrist, and then looked at the baby she carried and nodded slowly. He probably thought she was some scared woman running from an abusive husband or boyfriend, holing up in hotel just this side of seedy, with her kid. The room was clean, but it was old and dated, and the place was starting to collect the kind of clientele that made Adalind's skin crawl. She figured this was the best place; would at least take Nick a while to find it and her, if he was looking, and she had no doubt he would be trying to pinpoint his son's whereabouts.

If she told him where she was he would show up. She didn't like worrying him, but he wouldn't understand that she needed some time. His concern was Kelly.

She laid beside Kelly and settled into a mostly sleepless night before she awoke for good sometime around four in the morning. She turned on her phone and found three more messages from Nick and two from Rosalee. She debated, aware that what she relayed to Rosalee would most likely be relayed to Monroe and therefore Nick, or perhaps even Nick directly. She left a message back to Rosalee that she was okay, and offered a blanket apology, before she pondered on sending the same message to Nick. She didn't want him to worry about Kelly, but she also didn't want to talk to him yet.

 _Kelly's fine. Need some time._ She finally sent and turned off her phone again. She wondered if Nick would track her phone and show up at the hotel demanding his son back. She wondered if she wanted him to. Would it be right to draw their relationship out any longer than they had to. At this point it was only a matter of time before he came to the realization he couldn't continue with both of them, Adalind and Juliette. Probably had already come to that realization and now had to figure out how he would break the news to her. She closed her eyes, the image of them at the station flashing in her mind. She wondered for a moment what he was doing, noting he would be getting up soon to go into work, and then wondered what day it was. She'd ask the kid at the front desk next time he called.

She wondered if Juliette was with him. Of course she probably was. Where would she even have to go? Nick wouldn't just leave her to figure it all out herself, not when she was vulnerable. He had done the right thing for Adalind and he had despised her. He would do the right thing with Juliette. She wished he wasn't so damn noble, but it had become one of the things she loved about him.

She felt her throat ache, and ran her hands through her hair. She was still tired, but she was even more tired of crying, of hurting. She hadn't filled any of her prescriptions for the physical pain. She should probably do that, but she was alone with Kelly, and she didn't want to risk his safety or health anymore than she was by taking a pain pill, not knowing how she might be affected by it.

She sighed and looked back at the bed, but she didn't think she could go back to sleep, so instead she pulled a pad of paper beside her and started to scribble down some notes.

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She turned her phone on again, late in the evening, before she attempted another restless night of sleep. She had asked the kid at the front desk in as roundabout a way as possible if anyone had some around asking for her, and then wondered why she was being so indirect. Clearly the kid thought she was hiding from someone, but she was afraid he would call the police out of misguided concern and that would lead Nick straight to her and she still didn't think she could handle that yet. There had been no more phone messages from either Nick or Rosalee and she didn't know what that meant. Respecting her request for privacy? They had given up? She doubted it. Redoubling his efforts to find her? She half expected every knock or footstep she heard outside her door to be his, and didn't know if what she felt was relief or disappointment when it wasn't.

What if he wasn't even looking at all? The thought of what could distract him—who could distract him—she swallowed thickly.

What did she want from him? What was fair to him? Fair to her? If she truly loved him she wouldn't expect him to come swooping in to find her, not when Juliette needed him, too. She had caused him immeasurable pain over the years she had known him. Had made his relationship with Juliette far more difficult than it should have ever had to have been. Had just expected he find away to overcome his feelings and personal misgivings to help her when she found herself pregnant, out of allies, and nowhere to go, and at what personal cost to him? Had counted on that noble streak-the Dudley do-right to do the right thing with her. How much more was she going to demand of him? He had always acted with integrity-putting others' needs before his despite his personal feelings or reservations-perhaps it was time she returned the favor, and did something for him, no matter the personal cost or pain to her for once.

She pulled the document she had been working on back in front of her and continued to refine it.

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	16. Chapter 16

AN: The penultimate chapter. Hope you have enjoyed the story so far.

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She smiled brightly at everyone in the office, making sure to say hello, offered a comment on it being such a nice day, a coworker's necklace, a partner's tie. Her cheek was still swollen and slowly turning black and blue under a pound of makeup. Her ribs were taped up and she moved stiffly somewhat as she walked, but she made sure to acknowledge everyone who looked at her as she encountered them. She kept her head held high and walked as briskly as her injuries allowed, and she was exhausted by the time she reached her office. She was brought up short by the sight in front of her.

Nick, slouched in one of the uncomfortable chairs in her office, waiting for her.

"That detective's here to see you," Anita announced unnecessarily, and Nick heard her. It was too late to run now, although she still thought about it. He turned his head and stood, and she took a deep breath, suppressing the wince that resulted when her ribs twinged, and entered, closing the door behind her.

"We need to talk," he said abruptly, retaking his seat, looking at her, face unreadable.

He had made his decision then. She set her briefcase on her desk, and took her time as she removed her coat, but there was nothing else she could do to stall so she turned and faced him, taking her seat, the desk between them. He looked tired and a little unkempt, clothes wrinkled like he might have slept in them, but she supposed after the events of the last couple of days and all the work he had to do, he hadn't got much sleep.

"Where's Kelly?"

"I dropped him off at daycare twenty minutes ago," she said, and he nodded, and his lips formed a flat line.

"I've been worried," he said, and there was a note in his voice that told her to tread carefully.

"He's okay," she replied cautiously.

"You left the station the other night, without telling anyone, and you didn't come home the other night," he said. "Well, that isn't true, you didn't _stay_ at home. Where were you?"

"I told you, I just needed—Kelly and I were fine."

"Obviously not, because you both would have been there when I got back. You would have waited for me to take you home like I asked you too. Where were you?"

"Nick-" she said, and then couldn't bring herself to say anything else for a moment. _Dammit. I am not going to cry again._

"Adalind, what's going on?" he asked, and it was clear he was trying to keep his patience. "Where have you been all weekend? It wasn't at the Luxe Hotel," he added harshly, and she wondered briefly if she pulled one over Nick Burkhardt, detective extraordinaire.

"I told you. I just needed some time."

"Time," he repeated. "Time from what? Time from me?"

"After everything that's happened…" she began, and Nick cut her off.

"I know what happened was horrible, but I was worried about you! About my son! You vanished, for the second time in as many days and I didn't know where you were or what was going on!"

"I told Trubel everything was fine."

"You told Trubel you were at the Luxe Hotel and you weren't," Nick snapped. "I checked. And that still begs the question of why you couldn't tell me. Why you didn't answer any of my phone calls. I tried all of the prior aliases or businesses you've stayed under before, in case you might be using that. Came up with zip, which led me to believe you were _trying_ not to be found. So imagine my confusion, and my anxiety when the mother of my child up and leaves with my son without a word about where she's going or why, especially when she has a serious head injury and is beat all to hell."

"I left you a message. Rosalee too; We were okay."

Nick scoffed and rolled his head to the side, glancing at the cloudy Portland skyline.

"You turned off your phone," he said, and Adalind knew then he had tried to track it. "Where were you?" he asked again, his eyes dark and Adalind felt her pulse speed up. It had been a long time since she had had reason to fear Nick, but she sensed she was exhausting what little patience he still clung to on this topic.

"Sleepy Pines, on Bleeker," she said finally and Nick narrowed his eyes in surprise, and she could see his mind process that information, the cop in him dissecting it.

"What were you doing there?"

"Working on some things."

"What things?"

"I needed to-to-think about some stuff. Everything that happened." His eyes narrowed, not quite believing her. "And this," she added. Might as well grab the bull by the horns, she thought. "I drafted a custody agreement," she said, opening her briefcase and pulling it out, glad for the excuse to look at something other than Nick's hard green eyes.

"Custody agreement?" he said, and he sounded pissed. "Why are you working on a custody agreement when we're raising our child together?"

"I think you'll find that we-"

"Are you leaving me?" he interrupted. "Is that what this is?"

She looked up, his expression closed off and furious. The loft was technically his. He paid the house payment, the electricity, everything. Or had for over a year. The cars were his too. His and Juliette's. She would want hers back she was sure, and she was glad that she had pushed for that raise from Berman. She would need it. She would need to look for somewhere for her and Kelly soon, maybe close to her old neighborhood.

"I think in light of recent events that it would be best if I moved out. The loft is your place and I'm sure you'd like to have a place of your own again."

"Recent events? What recent...? A place of my own?" His brow furrowed in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"For you…and Juliette." Adalind managed with a reasonable facsimile of a smile. She had practiced this carefully over the last twenty-four hours.

"Juliette?" he asked in surprise. "That's what this is about?"

 _Of course that was what this was about,_ she wanted to snap. She had thought of little else.

"It will be best for everyone," she said, turning back to the agreement.

"And why the hell do you think that?"

Adalind looked down at her desk. "I saw you…at the police station." And Nick furrowed his brow again. "In the hallway outside interrogation…where you kissed," and Nick sharpened his gaze, and then shifted in his seat looking away briefly.

"I see," he said when he looked at her again. "She kissed me, and it didn't mean anything to me," he said, and Adalind frowned.

"Nick," she said. "It's okay."

His face hardened and he looked at her for a long moment. "So based on that, you're just going to walk out on me, and take my son with you."

"No, see," she held out the custody agreement she had drafted. "I think I've-" and she jumped when Nick batted it out of her hand with a quick snap of his arm. She watched the papers flutter to the ground before turning to face him. He was definitely pissed. His eyes were narrowed in on her, cold and hard, and she was hard press to ever recall a time in their sordid history when he had been that angry with her.

"I just want what is best for Kelly," she hastened to explain. "The agreement is very fair."

"What's best for Kelly is his mom and dad _both_ taking care of him, _together._ "

"I know you'll take care of him," she said. "I know how much you love him. I just want to make sure I'm a part of his life, too," she managed, and _dammit, no_ , she didn't want to start crying. She looked down and saw her desk blotter smeared where two tears had made contact. _Dammit, dammit, dammit._

"Why wouldn't you be a part of his life, Adalind? You're his mother. Do you honestly think I'm going to take him away from you?" he asked bewildered, some of the anger leaving his voice. She shook her head. No he wouldn't take him away, but she would be replaced, like she had always been her whole life, by someone better that was loved more than she. Juliette had had an innate mothering instinct. Would be great at it. She had understood far more about Diana's basic needs than Adalind had. Juliette and Nick would be a wonderful parenting team-it both came naturally to them. Her son would want for nothing in their care. She refocused on Nick when she realized he was still speaking. "Is that why you're trying to take him away from me? Where is this coming from?"

"No, I just-I'm not taking him away from you," she said. "I just thought that now with Juliette back, that it would be best if we had something down on paper, for both of us, so Kelly doesn't get caught in the middle."

He reeled back in annoyance. "Juliette," he said bitterly. "So, that's what this is. You think we're getting back together or something? I told you before it was over between she and I, and I meant it, Adalind. Too much has happened to ever go back to the way it was."

"A lot happened between us, you found a way to live with me," Adalind pointed out. "She was the love of your life," Adalind said, "Before I-"

"Before you wrecked it?" He said coldly, and Adalind winced. "I-I thought so too, but the truth was we had been struggling a long time by the time you took away my powers. Yes, I got them back, and then she changed and did some things I never thought her capable of doing to me."

"Yes, and see, that's my fault. But now she's changed back and you have a real chance with her again."

"No, she hasn't it. No one has any idea what the toxin did, but Meisner thinks that it's only temporary. A few weeks and it will wear off. There's still some Eve evident under there, so it's not even that strong. Regardless, it doesn't appear that it's altered time and dropped Juliette and I together back before I became a Grimm, which is when it all started unraveling, anyway."

Adalind sniffled. "If you can put up with me after everything than I know you can forgive her. I think you just need to give it a chance."

"Are you kidding me? Dammit, Adalind, I know what happened. I was there. I know what you did, and what I did, and neither one of us is innocent in everything that has happened since. I know I did things that maybe if I hadn't done them we wouldn't be in this position now, the same as if you hadn't, but I can't change what happened and neither can you. That doesn't mean I blame you still, or that you're undeserving of forgiveness. I understand why everything happened. All we can do is move forward from it, and I thought we were doing pretty well with that until two nights ago. I'm not going to start up again with Juliette and live happily ever after, and I'm not going to replace Kelly's mom with her. You're his mother. He loves you. And while we're on that subject, I'm not in love Juliette anymore," he said pointedly and she glanced up without meaning to.

"You had a really good life with her," she tried desperately. "You shouldn't have to be forced to choose. This is good for you," she insisted. "A second chance at happiness."

"I have a surprisingly good life with you," he countered. "Do you think I'm unhappy? That I'm somehow settling with you?"

"Yes!" she said, and Nick frowned and leaned forward. She had maybe thought he had been content in their little bubble, making lemonade out of the lemons he had been handed, but she told herself that given any other option he would have taken it. He had made do with what he had. It was just who he was. Juliette reappeared and that bubble burst.

She shook her head, confused and exhausted and wished he would go away and leave her alone.

He stared at her for a long moment, eyed her bent head before he said, "Look. No one is more surprised than me that you and I are together in this capacity. Well, except for everyone else we both know," he added dryly. "But they don't really get it, and they probably never will, I don't know. I know I had a part in some of the things that happened, that it drove you to do the things you did, which drove me to do things, and we just kept trying to outdo the other mindless of what the consequences of that could be. The strangest thing about it all is that we work. It defies all logic, believe me, but it doesn't change the fact that somehow we're actually pretty good together when we're not plotting to kill each other," he said with half a smile. She looked away again, biting her lip.

"I don't know why I love you," he said, and Adalind's heart began to thump loudly. "I know all the reasons why I probably shouldn't, but that doesn't change the fact that somehow I still do. And it's not because you're the mother of my child, or because of Stockholm syndrome or whatever other reason you want to file it under, and it's not something I can just shrug off or get over easily, or maybe it's because of all of that, I don't know, but I'm exactly where I want to be. And if I chose to get back with Juliette now, _then_ I would be settling. _I'm_ not going anywhere."

She stared at Nick, until she couldn't look at him anymore, emotion lodged high in her throat. Adalind looked at the papers strewn across her office floor and desk. She bent down slowly, still difficult and painful to move and started gathering them up carefully. Nick sighed and stood to bend down to help her. Her hands shook and she wished she wasn't so affected by him as she chewed on everything he had said. He handed her the small stack he had collected, and she held them together tightly with hers, trying to smooth the edges, and square the corners.

So he _wanted_ to be with her, was that what he was saying? He was _choosing_ to be with her.

Nobody she had ever loved had ever chosen her. Never once had she rated more than what she could do for them in the moment, and once that moment was over she had been discarded and forgotten. She sniffled again.

"I don't want to be the reason you're unhappy anymore," she managed.

"You're not," Nick said quietly. "And you won't be if you forget this nonsense of custody agreements and me and Juliette getting back together."

"I worked really hard on this," she said inanely, trying to keep herself under control, but it was probably a lost cause with him so close. She dumped it in her trash, and Nick glanced at it, equal parts annoyance and confusion. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself.

"I can't pick up Kelly tonight," she said, grasping at something banal to focus on, hoping to diffuse the electricity between them. "You'll have to get him from daycare. I need to work late tonight to get caught up so you'll have to feed him and bathe him, and read him his story," she said, finally risking another look at him, and she halted suddenly at his expression. Nick must have understood what she wasn't saying because the next thing she knew she was enveloped in a bone-crushing embrace. It hurt like hell with her ribs, but she gripped him just as tightly, and ignored the pain.

She felt a few more tears seep from her eyes, the emotional toll of the last few days needing just one more release. God, would she ever be done? Nick held her close, pressing a kiss against her shoulder, then the side of her temple before burying his head in the crook of her shoulder. He ran his hands up and down her back slowly, and she feathered his dark hair between her fingers. They stayed like that for several minutes until she started to calm down a little. She took a few more deep, unsteady breaths, and she felt Nick shift his head.

"Uh," he began, clearing his throat, "you know everyone in your office is watching us, right?" he said, glancing over her shoulder where he no doubt had a good view of the entire 17th floor law office staring back.

She closed her eyes and then looked up at the ceiling.

"Great. Just what I needed. They heard about Louis. They probably all thought you were here to arrest me or something," she replied. 99% of the female population in the office had probably meandered up as soon as they noticed him striding through the building to take a better look at him.

"He's going to be locked up for a long time. You don't have to worry about him. I'll make sure of that." Nick said, stepping back. He ran his hands down her sides and she couldn't help the slight jerk at the motion.

"Your ribs?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm okay, I promise. Just a little sore still, is all. No hanky panky for us for a little bit, though," she added in a poor attempt at humor. Nick looked her over carefully, the swollen cheek and eye socket.

"You should be home," he said.

"No, I need to be here. I need to work, Nick," she said quietly, and he nodded after a moment in understanding.

"Are you taking anything for the pain?"

"No," she admitted. "Kelly," she added for explanation, glancing at him, and then snatching a few Kleenex from the box on her desk. He pulled her close again, ignoring the fact he was helping to put on quite the soap opera for the office, and Adalind wondered what stories would be circulating about her and the dark-headed homicide detective now. He breathed in deeply, and brushed her hair back over her shoulder.

"I should probably get going," He announced, straightening. "I'll see you and Kelly at home, right?" he asked to be sure, and she nodded.

"Good," he said, and placed a kiss against her good cheek, and brushed away a couple of tears that remained there with his hand. "I'll see you tonight," he said again and strode out of her office. "Love you," he added before he was out the door, and she stared back at him dumbfounded. She glanced at the vultures watching him leave and noticed their expressions change when they realized she was watching them.

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	17. Chapter 17

_Not again,_ she thought.

She awoke with a jolt, surrounded by high cinderblock walls. Her face, slightly tender on her cheek, brushed against the sheets as she—wait, what?

Sheets?

She rolled over quickly, almost bumping into Nick who was lying on his side beside her, face half hidden in the pillow it was pressed against.

She was home. She breathed a sigh of relief as she recalled it had been weeks since her ordeal with Louis. It had only been a nightmare, she told herself, and even they were less frequent than they had been thanks to Rosalee and a tea she had recommended she drink every night before bed.

She stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, before turning her head to look at Nick. He had had a few restless nights, too, over the last few weeks, some because of her and some due to work and Black Claw. She had sought out Rosalee's help after waking him a third time in the night, embarrassed that what Louis had done to her affected her so. She had survived worse, but she couldn't help remembering how terrified she had been that Black Claw could get to Kelly.

Nick hadn't been sleeping well up to that point also due to his own private fears that she might slip away in the night, she suspected. She had nearly broken something between them when she had taken Kelly and ran to that hotel without him knowing, and she regretted abusing his trust in her, didn't realize how fragile it was between them, after, or perhaps because of everything they'd been through in their history.

She had survived the rest of that morning she had found him waiting for her in her office, dodging some invasive questions from her coworkers about the Louis situation; Nick; her face, which still didn't look quite right no matter how artfully she had tried to cover it up with makeup.

Everyone had heard Louis had been arrested. Everyone knew that Nick was a cop from his first visit ever to her office, where he had attracted much attention and curiosity, that easy confident stride that belied incredibly able and agile defensive skills of a cop and a Grimm, gun and badge on either hip. Naturally their interest had been piqued when he had waited her out in her office after Louis' arrest and her having been absent from work for several days. They hadn't been disappointed when he had failed to arrest her and had embraced her instead, and the day had got on without further incident after he had left, but there was intense curiosity about what had happened with her and what had become with Louis.

Obviously she knew what had had happened, but Nick had been somewhat reticent on what had become of Louis. When she had pressed him later one night, he had only declared darkly that he wouldn't ever bother her or Kelly again, and Adalind wondered if Nick had killed him, and couldn't find it in herself to be shocked or disappointed. Truth was, she hoped Nick had, if nothing else than to make an example out of what happened when you messed with a Grimm's family. Perhaps it would deter others from trying the same thing, but she doubted that.

She had tried, too, to glean information over the next couple of weeks from what little others knew at the station, but Hank and Wu refused to comment and Sean had only reiterated what Nick had told her, that he wouldn't ever bother her again, and she had to wonder if maybe even they knew. They certainly had an idea, but maybe for their own deniability they couldn't ever really know or say for certain. Rosalee had only told her she wasn't sure what Nick had done, but she believed that Adalind and Kelly were safe from harm from him, and Adalind had believed her and let it go.

She hadn't heard anything more about Sudcliffe, and she only had Trubel's comment that Meisner was aware of him and she hoped he had taken care of him, too. Sudcliffe still worried her more than Louis ever had, maybe because she knew so little about him. He concerned Nick, too, as Nick had no information other than what she had told him, and he had come from H.W.a couple of times irritable from the lack of progress on that front. She had wondered though if that was truly because Meisner wouldn't tell him anything, as he had claimed, or if it was because he had seen Eve.

Juliette had disappeared back into the organization that had transformed her into Eve, volunteering to undergo the reconditioning that had made her such an effective and emotionless weapon against Black Claw. Over the weeks after she had led Nick to Adalind, the toxin that had suppressed most of her hexenbiest tendencies had eroded until she was once again the dangerous and deadly replica of her former self. Adalind hadn't known where she had stayed those first few days after their rescue, but she had heard from Rosalee that Sean had taken her in for a few days before Meisner had stepped in.

Rosalee said little about her former friend, but Adalind had detected pain there when the subject had come up. Nick wasn't the only one who couldn't forgive and forget. Juliette had damaged a lot of relationships prior to her "death" and subsequent rebirth, and Adalind wondered how Juliette had felt those first few days where the toxin had suppressed her back into a relatively defenseless human being filled with awareness and regrets over her behavior. How lonely it must have been to know that because of everything she had done there was no one to help her navigate this world again. Scarily, Adalind found she could relate at one time to that fear and isolation, when she had been pregnant with Kelly and had to appeal to Nick for help, and then drank a suppressant that rid her of what protection she had. She wondered what she would have done if he had not capitulated; if his friends had not eventually rallied around him, and therefore her and their son. If he had held firm to his anger and distrust, like he had with Juliette this time.

She still couldn't believe that he hadn't tried to help Juliette more, but perhaps killing his mother had truly been the unforgiveable sin that had broken them forever. He didn't really seem angry anymore, though, just resigned to the fact that it was over and that a relationship between him and Juliette was impossible. Would only concede to the professional and distant collaboration that sometimes resulted with Hadrian's Wall and Eve.

She glanced at Nick, focusing her eyes on his handsome profile, tracing over the strong jaw, sharp nose, and the curve of his cheek. He still sported the grizzle on his face that he had been wearing for months now, and she made note how his long lashes fanned over his cheek. Kelly looked a lot like him even in sleep, minus the fuzz, and with chubbier cheeks. She wondered idly if he ever thought about them having more children, and then thought there was still a lot for them to work through. She still wanted to find Diana, needed her daughter back with her, and then they could ponder adding to their family, if he even wanted to.

He sighed in his sleep and she smiled, almost reaching out to touch him but she pulled her hand away before she made contact. She didn't want to disturb his sleep and wake him. Instead she just watched him quietly, the slow rise and fall of his shoulders with each breath soothing her.

"Stop staring."

She started in surprise. "What?"

"Stop. Staring. You're staring at me," Nick mumbled, opening his eyes to look at her.

"I am not," she said, although he was right, she was.

"You okay?" he asked, reaching a hand out to brush against her face, always mindful of her cheek, even though it was mostly healed at this point.

"Yeah, sorry, didn't mean to wake you," she said, and he shrugged indifferently.

"Bad dream?" he asked and it was her turn to shrug, pulling her eyes away from his and lying on her back. He pulled his hand away, and tucked it back under his pillow. "Want to talk about it?" he ventured, but she rarely took him up on his offer.

"No," she said with a sigh. "Nothing new, just the usual," she said, referring to the fact she often dreamed of Kelly being taken away from her. Less referred to was she also dreamed of Nick being taken away from her.

He didn't say anything and she looked at him after a moment. He was staring off into space, looking at something near her stomach before he glanced back up to meet her eyes. "I'm not going to let anything happen to him, or you," he said, and she nodded, but wondered not at his conviction, which she believed a hundred percent, but his ability to prevent it. He couldn't be everywhere at once, for both her and Kelly, and one day they might not be so lucky as they were this round. Then she thought of Trubel, and Rosalee and Monroe, Hank and Wu, and even Sean, who worked hard every day to support Nick, to help protect her and Kelly-sometimes behind the scenes without her even knowing, she thought, remembering Trubel volunteering at Kelly's daycare-and thought maybe it was possible he could.

"I know," she said, looking at him. He watched her for a moment.

She hadn't seen Trubel for a couple of weeks now. She had undertaken some new assignment for the wall, but her stuff was still at the loft in the study, enough crap accumulated that Adalind had to wonder if maybe she had moved in with them. Nick and Trubel seemed to be on better terms, most of the awkwardness between them having disappeared. She thought maybe it meant Trubel had fully accepted Nick's relationship with her. She appeared to be taken with Kelly, too, but then Kelly had bridged a lot of difficult relationships, his own parents' the most obvious example.

"You want me to take your mind off of it?" Nick asked her, sliding his hands gently over her stomach, her ribs still twinging with discomfort from time to time but also nearly healed. She was reminded they hadn't been intimate in weeks either. For a couple who enjoyed each other frequently, the lengthy time apart was starting to grate on Adalind's nerves.

Her ribs had been most problematic, as she used her torso to do most everything from walking to getting dressed to, of course, brightening up hers and Nick's late nights, or early mornings, when the opportunity arose between them. The concussion had resolved itself fairly quickly, the cheek longer, but the ribs kept bothering her from time to time, and Nick was ever perceptive of every jolt of pain or grimace of discomfort.

"What are you suggesting?" she asked coyly, hoping it was along the same lines as she was thinking.

"Not that," Nick said, and she sighed in disappointment. "We still need to be careful of your ribs."

"We've been careful for the last few weeks. They're fine," Adalind insisted. "I feel okay." _Most of the time_ she added silently.

"I think we should still wait."

"Niiiiick," she whined.

"That's not going to work," he said, and she licked her lips and stared at him doe-eyed and pleadingly. "That's not, either," he added, but he moved his eyes away from her and to the ceiling.

 _Ha!_ She thought. _It works a little_.

She trailed a finger down his abdomen, pulling the covers down along the way, to the band of his underwear where he captured her hand before she could trail it any further. She smirked at him when he looked at her.

"I think I can make a pretty effective argument otherwise." She said, struggling a little against his grasp, but he held her hand firm, so she was forced to employ her other one. Nick reached for it, but Adalind managed to elude him for a minute before he captured the other one, resulting in a tug a war that had her leaning over him, straddling his hips by the time they were done. Okay, that had resulted in a few dull aches, not that she was going to let him know that. She was much better positioned to make a convincing argument like this. She relaxed the struggle and Nick let their arms fall, but didn't release his grip on her.

"Adalind," he said, recognizing the look on her face. "I think we should just take it easy."

"I think that's an excellent idea. Nice, and slow," and she rocked her hips in demonstration against his. "And easy."

The grip on her hands tightened momentarily, and she grinned a little. She rolled her hips again, and she felt Nick begin to respond.

"Stop that," he said, but without any conviction. He closed his eyes, in fact, enjoying the sensation despite his apparent stance on defying any more doctor's orders.

"I bet if we're slow, and careful, and quiet," she added, thinking of Kelly sleeping in the next room, "you could take my mind off of less pleasant things. And don't you _want_ to help me, Nick?"

"What I want is to not risk hurting you or setting you back in your recovery." He said, trying to still her.

"You won't. You'll be gentle, and soft, and very careful with me, and that's why I love you." The words just popped out of her mouth she clapped it shut in surprise, stilling her movements. The past few weeks she had been trying to convey the depth of her feelings to Nick, resulting in all manner of awkward, mumbled, and half made declarations. She had no idea—well, she had some idea—why it was so difficult to state her feelings for Nick out loud to him. What she felt for Nick was scary. This was a man that two years ago she had pretty much hated with a passion and now she loved him with the same passion, could not imagine her life without him in it. Admitting what she felt, she was saying she needed someone, and she was vulnerable because of that need. She was used to being independent; to her love being one-sided.

Nick narrowed his eyes, realizing that something significant had happened, and he released one of her hands to bend forward and kiss her, her eyes still wide in surprise at her admission.

Well, it wasn't like she hadn't meant it.

She returned the kiss, deciding if he wasn't going to call any more attention to it, than that was fine with her.

"Maybe we could test the waters," He ventured when they parted, and she grinned in victory. "But! But," he continued when she schooled her features into a more neutral expression, "We're going to take it slow and if you feel any pain we're stopping."

"Absolutely," Adalind agreed, thinking that unless one of her ribs poked through the skin they weren't going to stop until they were both unconscious. She rolled her hips again against his, this time more insistently and grinned wickedly when he squirmed and shifted.

"You won't regret your decision," Adalind added trying to soothe him. She arched her back and he ran his hand up her front, her ribs protesting a little, but not enough that she reacted in any way he could see. He continued with his palm against her, around her breasts, and up to her neck. He used his other hand to help steady her and began to rock with her.

"I don't doubt it."

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AN: That's it for this story, ladies and gents. Let me know what you think


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